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The rise and decline of states, empires, and civilizations in world history from ancient times to the modern period, seen from an environmental perspective.

Ecologists tell us that all things in nature are linked together. Inspired by this idea, environmental historians argue that human history is about more than just “human things” like politics or war or racial conflicts. History has also been shaped by the intimate relationship between the human and nonhuman worlds. Plants, animals, microorganisms, climate, geography, and so on have all influenced human culture. People have returned the favor by affecting nature as well. Meanwhile, humans have also thought, spoken, and written about the natural world, and their relationship to it, in philosophy, religion, art, science and politics, to name only the major venues.

World history, like environmental history, concerns itself with connections – in this case, the many links between different peoples, cultures, nations, and geographical regions across the globe, and the way those links have changes over time. Scholars of world history know that history is not something that can be fully contained within simple vessels such as nations or regions: “Japan” or “Western Europe” or “Africa.” History is a global phenomenon as much as it is a local one, and taking a global view is a vital part of historical understanding.

This class is an introduction to environmental history in a global context – a history across cultures, nations, geography and time. It is not meant to be an exhaustive class in which you will be taught everything you will ever need to know about environmental history around the world. Instead, this class is intended to help you to explore some basic issues and themes. Given our location in Innsbruck, we will spend much of our time focusing on Europe. We will discuss nature and the birth of civilizations, epidemics from the Plague of Justinian to the Black Death, the impact of European colonialism on the global environment, and the rise of the worldwide environmental movement. We will also range beyond Europe, however, to East Asia, South America, Australia, and Africa, and across time from the Ice Age to the present day. In the process we will also touch on a wide spectrum of historical approaches: social history, labor history, political and policy history, women’s history, and more – not to mention biology, ecology, anthropology, and a number of other interdisciplinary influences. We’ll approach them through a mixture of readings, lectures, writings and discussion.

The University of New Orleans International Summer School program has a mandatory class attendance policy. All students are required to attend class for all morning classes and any required afternoon and/or weekend fields trips and lectures. No unexcused absences are allowed. However, LFU students who have to miss a UNO class due to LFU examinations in the first two weeks of our program, can receive one excused absence for this. Any further unexcused absences will result in an academic penalty. Each faculty member determines the penalty for missed classes. Most professors deduct a letter grade for each additional missed class day. For details, please refer to your course syllabi, which will be distributed on the first day of class. The listed ECTS credits are a recommendation by the University of New Orleans Innsbruck Summer School, based on contact hours, anticipated out-of-classroom requirements such as field trips, and projected workload for readings, assignments, and exam preparation. Mail: Center-New-Orleans@uibk.ac.at