MELA47330: Ecology, Colonialism/Imperialism and Literature

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• Develop an understanding how the histories of environmental degradation, patriarchal capitalism and colonialism/imperialism are intertwined.
• Familiarise students with a range of literary texts from formerly (or still) colonised countries, that have long engaged in thinking through the relations between racism, sexism and environmental degradation.
• Familiarise students with recent cutting-edge theories in the environmental humanities and postcolonial studies.
• Familiarise students with environmental issues debated across a range of related disciplines, including postcolonial studies, ecocriticism and world-ecology studies.

• Students will read and examine a range of different literary texts from different geographical contexts that have engaged with issues of environmental justice.
• Students will also be expected to engage with a range of theoretical writing from postcolonial studies, eco-materialism, and environmental humanities.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of this module:
• Students will develop a critical understanding of different nodes of debates in ecocriticism and postcolonial studies.
• Students will develop an advanced understanding of a range of different concepts and methodologies.

Subject-specific Skills:

• By the end of this module, students will develop:
• An advanced ability to engage critically with cultural texts about environmental issues, employing critical frameworks and perspectives learned on the module.
• An advanced ability to engage critically with different forms of analysis in the environmental humanities informed by critical theory and cultural studies.

Key Skills:

• By the end of this module, students will:
• Develop an advanced ability to engage cultural analysis.
• Develop independent research skills, using a wide range of subject-specific search tools and sources.
• Develop an advanced ability to synthesise complex material from a wide range of sources in order to produce effective written documents.
• Demonstrate competence in appropriate information technology skills.
• Demonstrate professional conduct through observation of professional and academic standards, including correct editorial referencing of sources.
• Demonstrate problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrate organisational skills, including time management.

• This module will be assessed by two assignments (20%; 80%).
• a 15-minute presentation on an issue or a debate within the environmental humanities. It should engage with a pressing topic from a perspective informed by the debates/frameworks studied on this module.
• an academic essay of 3500-words on a topic agreed with the module convenor. While you will be expected to engage with current thinking within the environmental humanities, your essay can offer a perspective on specific current environmental struggles.

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