International Governmental and public concern has been aroused by the impact of the unprecedented consumption of space and resources on Earth's environmental systems and human societies, caused by our rapidly increasing technological capability, reorganisation of international political and economic systems such as the Former Soviet Union and European Union, and global demographic trends and the 2008 crises in the global banking system.
The prospect of concerted world-wide action has gained considerable momentum during the 1990s, with the recognition that changes in the fabric of society and the reorganisation of socio-economic systems cannot be divorced from progressive degradation of the physical and social environments we inhabit. Past environmental impacts, although still incompletely understood, offer important clues to those we are now experiencing. We are experiencing sea-change in the acceptance of human-forced global climate and environmental change - realising that we probably have to manage its consequences rather than prevent it.
An Opportunity for Interdisciplinary Study
The Course opportunities in Environmental, Urban & Regional studies are designed specifically to explore the character and implications of these changes over a wide range of multi- and inter-disciplinary studies, in keeping with the realisation that solutions for our socio-economic and environmental future can be found no longer in any one discipline. Participants from a wide range of relevant academic backgrounds can expect to bring their particular expertise to the Course and to learn something, and appreciate the significance, of adjacent disciplines in the best traditions of the Oxford Tutorial system of study. Participation in this cross-disciplinary Course irrespective of the student's principal academic background is to be encouraged.
Historical evidence of the impact of physical and human forces shaping the landscape is important to our themes. This is evident in the use made during the Summer School of the rich and diverse nature of British Landscapes in illustrating the impact of past as well as contemporary environmental, socio-economic, cultural and technological systems and using them as models on which to base assessments for the future.
As a result, the course is likely to appeal to majors in Archaeology, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Ecology, European Studies, Geography, History, Humanities, International Studies, Life Sciences, Medieval Studies, Policy, Political, Social & Economic Studies and Urban Studies.
Field Excursions
A popular, 4-Day Field Excursion The Development of British Landscapes is held half-way through the Summer School and is a co-requisite part of the academic programme of study as well as being open to other participants of the Summer School. This is in addition to the general, 1-Day Excursion which forms an integral part of the Summer School-wide Programme. Many parts of the British Isles record almost continuous human settlement from the end of the last global episode of the Ice Age 10,000 years ago, embracing inter alia periods of Neolithic (upper Stone Age), Bronze & Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlement prior to the Norman Conquest, the High Middle Ages, Industrial Revolution and Modern periods. They provide a magnificent opportunity for direct study of a full range of environmental changes in an enjoyable academic and social atmosphere.
Selection of Programme of Study
Choice of Course Options allows participants to construct their own individual Summer School programmes, enabling them to concentrate on areas of prime interest or to extend their range of study by sampling related disciplines. Two study Options, each one described individually and are available as follows:
- Option 1: Climate Change: Global Risk & Management
- Option 2: Environmental Change & British Landscape Development 8000 BC – 1700 AD
Students study ONE Option (worth 6 credits) and will be required to participate on the co-requisite 4-Day Field Excursion (worth 2 Credits) to form a Full, 8-Credit Programme.
Other students not studying the Environmental Studies Course are welcome to attend this Field Excursion if places are available.
In certain circumstances, participants may elect to combine two Options in any combination, studying them both in entirety or in a revised, half-Option format permitting a greater breadth of interdisciplinary study.
On registration, participants are asked to nominate two Options in order of preference. First preferences will be allocated as far as possible (and are the normal rule) but it may be necessary to vary this occasionally in order to obtain balanced Tutorial groups. The College reserves the right to do this.
Each Option will involve an average of 4 hours specialist formal contact with tutors each week, 2 further interdisciplinary hours with other Options in the Environmental Studies Course. Students are required to submit a Tutorial Essay or present a Seminar Paper in each week of the Programme.