TFF3226 ¨C The Anthropocene: Ecology and Democracy across the Disciplines

Course content

The Anthropocene, the Age of Humans, has been proposed as name for the geological epoch or event we are now entering. Anthropogenic climate change affects the atmosphere, the cryosphere, the oceans, the lakes and the loss of biodiversity as reported by the IPCC Reports 2021-23 (AR6), indicating a new relationship between humans and nature. It has deep impact on how we need to reconsider society, politics, and the human being in the face of climate tipping points and the accelerating polycrisis of the 21st century. The disruption of democratic values in the West requires a rethinking of responses to the climate crisis.
This represents an interdisciplinary challenge for virtually all disciplines, from biology, chemistry, hydrology and geosciences to anthropology, philosophy, theology, history, sociology, literature, religious studies, and psychology. Based on the DEMOCRISIS project combining research from the natural, social and human sciences at the University of Oslo and co-operation with Circle U universities in Berlin, Vienna and Aarhus, this course will provide an opportunity to understand and delve into the transdisciplinary ecological challenges raised in the Anthropocene. It includes an excursion and impressions from ecological field work during the one-week intensive learning week in Oslo.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

• to get an overview of key debates on ecology within the natural, social and human sciences

• to interpret texts on interdisciplinary ecology in a critical, constructive, and academically informed manner, both orally and in writing

• to achieve an overview over and insight into central methodological questions within transdisciplinary ecology and the current debate on the Anthropocene

Skills

• the ability to acquire and critically engage with new research contributions in the field.

• actively discussing ecological issues in a group and presenting your results orally and visually to a public audience

General

• participation in the creative research and learning environment, discussing ecological issues with top scholars from various disciplines

• acquiring a network of established and emerging scholars, as well as erudite and engaged students from all over Europe

This course is offered on both Bachelor's and Master's level. The Master's level syllabus will be more comprehensive than that of the Bachelor's level, and a higher level of knowledge and reflection will be expected from the Master students at the written exam, compared to the Bachelor's level students.

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register w