Course Details in

Module Title	LH Environment and Landscape Change
School	School of Geog Earth & Env Sci
Department	Geography
Module Code	03 23395
Module Lead	Dr WJ Eastwood
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites	LI Geomorphology and Palaeoenvironments - (03 30971)
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-22 hours Practical Classes and workshops-3 hours Guided independent study-175 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	A greater understanding of natural and human-induced environment and landscape changes is crucial in order forinformed management practices to be applied. In particular, this module adopts an ecological historical approach and a selection of environmental and landscape change case studies that reflect staff’s research interest will be examined over the last 20 thousand years or so in order to examine pre-impact and baseline conditions. Thus, the module will adopt a science-based ‘palaeo approach’ to examine human-environment interactions and the processes causing environment and landscape change at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. The module is prefaced by 4 contact hours that provide a general introduction to the triggers and forcing mechanisms - both natural and human-induced - that effect environmental and landscape change as well as some of the techniques and `palaeo’ indicators that are used for its study.The module is prefaced by 4 contact hours that provide a general introduction to the triggers and forcing mechanisms ¿ both natural and human-induced hat effect environmental and landscape change as well as some of the techniques and `palaeo' indicators that are used for its study. A 1,000-word report on an academic journal paper will follow this part of the course. A similar assignment will be given to UGs and returned during one of the Assignment Workshop sessions thus affording students with formative feedback. The rest of the module will follow a thematic approach dealing with topics relevant to specific types of environment and landscape change. Typical topics will include catastrophic environmental and landscape changes including flooding associated with the Mediterranean-Ponto-Caspian sea corridors and connections, catastrophic volcanism, late glacial-Holocene climate change, the origin of agriculture in Southwest Asia and the Neolithic transition, the early Holocene Forest (Re-)advance and refugia debate, Holocene climate variability and civilization/societal collapse, and sub-recent and catchment-scale environmental changes. The module will include short assignment workshop sessions designed to assist students with choosing an extended essay topic and appropriate means of searching for literature. Students will be encouraged to attend further individual meetings to clarify and focus the organization of their chosen extended essay.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: 1. demonstrate an understanding of the factors that cause environmental and landscape change and a range of the palaeo indicators that can be used to reconstruct past environmental changes. 2. develop cogent, coherent and sustained arguments about significant issues related to natural and human-induced environmental change from a range of case studies reflecting staff research interests. 3. demonstrate an in-depth understanding of one key subject area related to the themes of the course and in relation to relevant literature.
Assessment	23395-02 : 1000 word Essay : Coursework (25%) 23395-03 : 3000 word Essay : Coursework (75%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: One assessed essay (1000 words). Set Week 1, Submitted Week 6 (25%); One assessed essay (3000 words). Set Week 1, Submitted Week 11 (75%) Reassessment: N/A
Other
Reading List