London’s Carbon Geographies: From Coal to Climate Change

About

This module examines how environmental challenges have been, and continue to be, shaped by empire. These impacts affect how Earth's history, the biosphere, and the climate are known, and extend to both extractive technologies and financial relationships that enable extraction. But the effects of empire run deeper, to the very way the environment is understood. Using London as a launchpad for field trips and firsthand encounters, this module challenges students to rethink how ideas of the planet’s past, present, and future are shaped by empire.

Course leader

Jeremy Schmidt

Target group

Undergraduate

Course aim

This module aims to:

examine how empire has shaped, and continues to shape, environmental knowledge.
explore sites and spaces of empire, such as where the material markers of scientific knowledge persist in advancing ways of knowing and relating to the environment today.
understand how contemporary modes of extraction maintain links to the legacies of empire, such as in and through financial activities.
provide students with concrete analytical skills for situating contemporary challenges in historical context.
encourage students to engage critically and thoughtfully with how environmental thought, and baselines for assessing environmental impacts, have been influenced by the data collected through empire.

Fee info

The Queen Mary Summer School costs: £2,750 per session. We are offering a 10% early bird discount for those who apply before 31 March 2026. From 31 March onwards we will offer a 10% discount to: • Students and staff from partner institutions• Alumni • Current Queen Mary students. Accommodation On campus accommodation will cost approximately £1074 per session. Additional costs and course excursions Please note that some courses have some additional fees not included in the tuition fee. These fees are for activities and field trips that may take place away from our campus. We will give further details of these costs in due course. Please note there is no deposit payment required for the Queen Mary Summer School.