Conflicts over access to, and control of, resources have been a constant in human history. Rational policies to manage increasingly scarce resources often result in seemingly irrational reactions, many of which are rooted in specific cultural values and misunderstandings as much as varying stakeholder aims and objectives. This course combines conflict and conflict resolution theory with Asia Pacific region and resource specific case studies as they evolve over time to provide a broad-based toolkit for analysing the causes of resource conflicts and seeking feasible and enduring solutions. For the purposes of this course, the Asia Pacific region is designated to stretch west to east from Afghanistan to Easter Island/Rapanui, and north to south from the Pacific coast of Russia to Antarctica. Emphasis is placed on the fluidity of circumstances and changing mindsets over time. The course examines three sets of environmental issues: minority rights within states that usually involve extractive industries and underlying tensions between diverse ethnic and cultural groups; inter-state conflicts over resources that span multiple sovereign jurisdictions, or are in international waters beyond state jurisdiction: and, common issues over pending resource scarcity due to population pressure or the effects of climate change.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- understand theories explaining environmental conflict, and their application to a variety of case studies;
- understand the diverse agendas of multiple stakeholders in resource disputes, and the fluidity of conflict situations;
- devise sustainable resolutions to conflicts that take account of diverse agendas and changing circumstances; and
- clearly articulate their analysis of the causes and solutions to environmental conflicts.
Indicative Assessment
seminar paper (25%); essay (40%); exam (35%)
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
4 contact hours and about 6 hours reading and writing per week
Prescribed Texts
Journal articles and books
Preliminary Reading
None
Otomar Bartos & Paul Wehr, Using Conflict Theory; Moshe Rapaport (ed.), The Pacific Islands: Environment and Society; Victor King (ed.), Environmental Challenges in South-East Asia.
A full electronic bibliography will be available 2 months before the semester commences.
Specialisations
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $3480 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $4638 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7931 | 24 Jul 2017 | 31 Jul 2017 | 31 Aug 2017 | 27 Oct 2017 | In Person | N/A |
