ALL381 - Nature, Climate, Transformation

Unit details

Year:

2024 unit information

Enrolment modes:Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Online
Trimester 3: Online
Credit point(s):1
EFTSL value:0.125
Unit Chair:Trimester 1: Rachel Fetherston
Trimester 3: Emily Potter
Prerequisite:

One English -  Literature unit at second year level

Corequisite:Nil
Incompatible with: Nil
Typical study commitment:

Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.

This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site.

Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment:

1 x 1-hour lecture (online), 1 x 2-hour seminar per week

Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment:

1 x 1-hour lecture (online) per week, 1 x 2-hour seminar or equivalent per week

Content

Extreme weather events, choking pollution and the destruction of habitat, climate refugees and the struggle to end our reliance on fossil fuels: these are just some of the issues raised by writers who take nature, climate and the environment as the central focus of their work. In this unit students will engage with a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts to explore the ways in which writers are confronting the human exploitation of nature that has led to the current climate crisis, and advocating a transformation of the relationship between humans and the environment. Students will learn to identify key conventions and concerns of historical and contemporary ecocritical texts, as well as respond to prominent debates and discourses around environmental politics and activism, including the role of literary texts.

ULO These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes
ULO1

Identify and critically engage with key concepts related to ecocritical thought and critical environmentalism through the interpretation of literary texts

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO4: Critical thinking

ULO2

Interpret and explain historical and contemporary literary representations of nature and the environment, and the conventions of ecocritical literature in English across a variety of written texts

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

ULO3

Critically analyse how literary texts including works by First Nations people, represent and interact with contemporary debates and discourses related to the environment, and discuss the transformative impacts this has on the relationship between humans and nature

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO4

Express ideas effectively, and construct and elaborate cogent arguments through textual examples and critical references, communicated in written form

GLO2: Communication

Assessment

Assessment Description Student output Grading and weighting
(% total mark for unit)
Indicative due week
Assessment 1 - Research and Writing Exercise 1400 words
or equivalent
35% Week 6
Assessment 2 - Online Quiz 1000 words
or equivalent
25% Week 9
Assessment 3 - Essay 1600 word
or equivalent
40% Week 11

The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.

Learning Resource

The texts and reading list for the unit can be found on the University Library via ALL381
Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.

Unit Fee Information

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