How can history help us understand the environmental problems we face today? What has shaped the relationships between people and environments in the past?

This course offers an introduction to global environmental history on a planetary scale, focusing on the period since 1945. In this course, we examine the profound transformation of the relationship between humans and the environment that has unfolded exponentially since 1945, and how societies have responded to these extraordinary environmental changes. Through a series of case studies and stories we will examine how the human footprint has grown, and its socioeconomic, political, and ecological impacts. This course is organised both chronologically and thematically, allowing students to explore agricultural, industrial and technological revolutions; energy and technology; development and decolonisation; urbanisation; conservation and environmentalism; and anthropogenic climate change.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of the field of global environmental history, including key themes and debates;
2. formulate sound arguments about how human actions have been shaped by their historical contexts (social, political, economic, cultural and environmental);
3. articulate the processes leading to environmental change in a range of places since 1945;
4. communicate an awareness of the ways that historically determined ideas about the environment inform current environmental policies and debates; and
5. develop and demonstrate oral and written skills in constructing evidence-based arguments using a variety of primary and secondary sources.

Research-Led Teaching

This course will be taught in workshop format, in which students work in teams throughout the semester. Active learning is more enduring than passive listening, so the course is organised to ensure that the in class experience is more rich and varied than learning alone. In back-to-back classes with a short break in between, we will have 1 secondary source-based workshop and 1 primary-source based workshop.

In each secondary source-based workshop, 3 students in each team have a formal role - speaker, secretary, and chair. We will schedule these roles at the beginning of the semester. The chair is responsible for organising the discussion and making sure that the group stays on task. The speaker briefly summarises the team's response to the question for the wider group. The secretary takes notes on proceedings and submits a brief report on the group's report that week (which includes an evaluation of each team member's contribution).

Each week we will consider set readings (of secondary sources), much like a conventional tutorial, and the Canvas course site includes questions that students should consider while completing the reading.

In the workshop, after I give a short introduction to the topic, each team will be allocated one of the questions, and given time to discuss it and prepare their answer, which will be related to the group by the speaker. This then might lead to a conversation about the different points raised, between myself and the team, helping to clarify, reinforce, or occasionally correct particular issues.

Each week's secondary-source workshop is accompanied by a primary source-based workshop.

This approach is informed by Prof. Andrea Gaynor (University of Western Australia); see A. Gaynor, "Environmental History: teaching in a time of crisis", in A. Nye and J. Clark (eds), Teaching History for the Contemporary World: Tensions, Challenges and Classroom Experiences in Higher Education (Singapore: Springer, 2021): 171-81.

Recommended Resources

These books are available through ANU SuperSearch either as physical library copies or e-Books:

J.R. McNeill & Peter Engelke, The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene since 1945, Harvard University Press, 2014.

Libby Robin, Paul Warde and Sverker Soerlin (eds), Future of Nature, Yale University Press, 2013.

Perrin Selcer, The Postwar Origins of the Global Environment: How the United Nations Built Spaceship Earth, Columbia University Press, 2018.

Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor, 2011.

*Note: It is not required that you purchase and/or read any or all of these books prior to the course's commencement, but they will provide you with a starting point for assignments and class discussion throughout the course.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• individual written comments

• verbal and written feedback to the whole class

• informal feedback

Individual written feedback: This will be provided for the Primary Source Essay and Research Essay. It includes a mark out of 100, a detailed rubric, and written comments. These comments will address the strengths and weaknesses of your essay, and suggest ways to improve. You will also receive a rubric which assesses the content, argument, structure, presentation, and referencing of your essay. Please note that the various components of assessment listed in the rubric do not have equal weight. Calculating your grade is not a matter of adding up the ticks, or supplying 10 marks for presentation and 20 marks for analysis etc. Students may be able to compensate for defects in one area of the table by high performance in another. The rubric is designed to help you to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your work, not to give you a mechanical breakdown of your grade.

Group feedback: This will be provided in workshops after the return of the Primary Source Essay and the Research Essay indicating common areas of weakness or strength and recommendations for the whole class, with examples.

Informal feedback: Students are in addition welcome to seek informal verbal feedback at any stage during the course. Please arrange an appointment to discuss your work. 

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). Feedback can also be provided to Course Conveners and teachers via the Student Experience of Learning & Teaching (SELT) feedback program. SELT surveys are confidential and also provide the Colleges and ANU Executive with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Introduction to Environmental History
2	Dams, Development and Decolonisation
3	Fallout
4	"Better Living through Chemistry"	Primary Source Essay due: 11.59pm, Friday 15 August 2025
5	Spaceship Earth
6	Feeding the World
7	Making Megacities
8	Eating the Ocean
9	Plastic Fantastic
10	Wildlife and Wilderness
11	Deforesting the Earth
12	Warming World	Research Essay due: 11.59pm, Monday 3rd November 2025

Tutorial Registration

Students attend ONE 2-hour workshop per week.

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Learning Outcomes
Primary source essay - 25%	25 %	11/08/2025	2,3
Research Essay - 50%	50 %	03/11/2025	1,2
Workshop Participation - 25%	25 %	*	1,4,5

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines , which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Integrity Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Extenuating Circumstances Application
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure
• Code of practice for teaching and learning

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using 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. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the Academic Skills website. In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Canvas’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Assessment Task 1

Primary source essay - 25%

Choose ONE historical (primary) source* produced since 1945, and explain

1: how it illuminates a significant aspect of world environmental history after 1945;

2: how you can justify your source selection.

Imagine that you work in a museum that is planning an exhibit on the environmental history of the world since 1945. Your task is to ‘sell’ your choice. Describe your chosen historical (primary) source and answer the two questions. The best reports will include evidence to support your source selection. You will have a selection of 10 historical (primary) sources to choose from.

Your essay must include references (footnotes) and a bibliography (these are not included in the word count).

Word count: 1000 words (excluding references).

Assessment Task 2

Research Essay - 50%

Choose any theme/issue from the weekly workshops (e.g. Feeding the World; Spaceship Earth; Making Megacities, etc) from weeks 2 to 11.

Answer this question: What does this issue reveal about the relationships between human societies and their environments since 1945?

To support your answer, you must draw on evidence concerning a specific case study, and explain why your choice illuminates this theme.

You may NOT write on the topic you chose for your Primary Source Essay.

Your essay may refer to tutorial readings and those works listed under 'Recommended Resources', but you must also conduct independent research to incorporate and analyse primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources must be peer-reviewed, scholarly sources.

Word count: 2000 words (excluding references)

Assessment Task 3

Workshop Participation - 25%

Workshop participation is assessed throughout the course; it is an extremely important component of the course.

This assessment item includes three components: (1) an oral presentation in a reading-based workshop, (2) a secretary’s report, and (3) participation in all workshops.

Part 1: Oral presentation in one reading-based workshop – 5% of overall grade

Each student will give a short presentation at the end of their group’s discussion of their reading-based workshop question. The presentation should summarise the group’s response to the question. It should not take the form of a sequential account of what the group discussed. As you will not have time to write yourself out a script to read, it may be helpful during the group discussion to make a list of four to six key points to discuss briefly in turn during your presentation.

Part 2: Secretary's Report - 5% of overall grade

Each student, as a member of a workshop team, is required to act as secretary for the team at least once, and submit a report of approximately 500 words on the way that the group handled the reading-based workshop activity that week. Please make sure that your report has your name, student number, and email on the top, and also includes the team name. The report should include:

1. the results of the team’s work on the reading-based discussion (i.e. list the question and provide a brief summary of the answer reached by the group);
2. an analysis of the way the team reached these results (i.e. what process was adopted to achieve the outcome, and how effective was it); and
3. a short characterisation of each of the team members’ contributions (i.e. list the name of each team member present and describe their input in a few words and on a scale from 0 to 10 with 10 being outstanding, and 0 indicating no input whatsoever).

You will have a week to complete your workshop report, which must be submitted online via Canvas by the end of the following week’s workshop.

Part 3: Workshop Participation - 15% of overall grade

The remaining 15% of the participation mark will be determined by your observed participation in class discussions and activities, and contribution to your team’s work as identified in secretary reports.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of the ANU culture as a community of scholars. The University’s students are an integral part of that community. The academic integrity principle commits all students to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support, academic integrity, and to uphold this commitment by behaving honestly, responsibly and ethically, and with respect and fairness, in scholarly practice.

The University expects all staff and students to be familiar with the academic integrity principle, the Academic Integrity Rule 2021, the Policy: Student Academic Integrity and Procedure: Student Academic Integrity, and to uphold high standards of academic integrity to ensure the quality and value of our qualifications.

The Academic Integrity Rule 2021 is a legal document that the University uses to promote academic integrity, and manage breaches of the academic integrity principle. The Policy and Procedure support the Rule by outlining overarching principles, responsibilities and processes. The Academic Integrity Rule 2021 commences on 1 December 2021 and applies to courses commencing on or after that date, as well as to research conduct occurring on or after that date. Prior to this, the Academic Misconduct Rule 2015 applies.

 

The University commits to assisting all students to understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. All coursework students must complete the online Academic Integrity Module (Epigeum), and Higher Degree Research (HDR) students are required to complete research integrity training. The Academic Integrity website provides information about services available to assist students with their assignments, examinations and other learning activities, as well as understanding and upholding academic integrity.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

No hardcopy submission.

Late Submission

Unless otherwise stated (i.e. in the case of take-home exams), late submission is permitted. Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item. Late submission is not accepted for take-home examinations.

Referencing Requirements

The Academic Skills website has information to assist you with your writing and assessments. The website includes information about Academic Integrity including referencing requirements for different disciplines. There is also information on Plagiarism and different ways to use source material. Any use of artificial intelligence must be properly referenced. Failure to properly cite use of Generative AI will be considered a breach of academic integrity.

Returning Assignments

Student work will be returned via Canvas within 3 weeks of the assessment submission.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions may be granted for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

Students may not resubmit work used either previously in this course, or in any other course.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Accessibility for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents all ANU students