Climate, Change and Culture

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Level 5

Pre-requisite: students must have completed at least one year of University study to be considered for this module.

This module looks at the impact of climate change on cultural expression, but also on how cultural texts – be they films, children’s books, music, theatre, or tv series – have affected our attitudes towards the environment. Students focus on contemporary climate fiction (cli-fi) as well as broader texts, from ancient to modern: theatre, visual art, music and cinema. The module equips students with an ecocritical vocabulary and the ability to master that language across a range of media and forms.

Texts studied include: Juliet Donaldson, The Gruffalo (1999); Moana (Disney, 2016); William Shakespeare, The Tempest (1613); Joni Mitchell, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ (1970); The Blue Planet and Blue Planet II (BBC, 2001 & 2017); Waubgeshig Rice, Moon of the Crusted Snow (2018).

Site visits: students will explore nature and culture in different urban settings. In addition to going on field walks in London’s parks and waterways, they will be going to Tate Britain; Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre; Barbican.

Note: these visits are subject to change.

Fee info