Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
English
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POLS1321 - Society and Environment



Credits : 3

Lecturer :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

Timetable :
First term
Friday from 09:00 to 11:00 at 109 Marais 101

Language of instruction :
English


Learning outcomes :
The course aims at getting a better understanding of the social implications of today's environmental matters. For the environment involves societal stakes and political claims that are arresting and even difficult to grasp. That's why the course explores the classics, texts, theory and research, that helped to disclose the social nature of the environment in the first place. This should enable students to better find their bearings in today's debate and analysis.



Prerequisites :
For the Bachelor in Law :

For the Bachelor in Law (Evening Programme) :

For the Bachelor in Information and Communication :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General :

For the Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology :


Co-requisites :
None

Course contents :
Since their inception, Social Sciences have studied living spaces. Material conditions of living, territoriality, habitat, access to natural resources, rights to infrastructures, ... These consideration are present in many a work of sociologists and anthropologists alike, but also of geographers and historians who have equally contributed to our current understanding of the relationship between eachsociety and its environment.
Rather than cutting up the field through a disciplinary lens, the course will look at three theoretical perspectives still active today: Neo-Marxism (a.o. David Harvey, Mike Davis) ; Human Ecology (a.o. Jarred Diamond, Donna Haraway); Post-Cybernetics (a.o. James Lovelock, Lynn Margulis). For each perspective, the course will present texts and authors. It will look at affinities with political movements. And it will tackle the importance of narratives and emblematic events.


Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Active use of articles and compulsory reading material.
If possible, invited lecturers.


Assessment methods and criteria :
Open-book oral exam.


Recommended or required reading :
Will be presented in the course and posted on eSaintLouis