Histories and Futures of Climate Change

Why should I take this Trinity Elective?

What role do the humanities play in addressing the climate emergency? Climate change challenges the way we produce and categorize knowledge, demanding that we think beyond traditional disciplines. This module explores the intellectual and epistemological challenges posed by climate change through the lens of Environmental History and the Environmental History of Art and Architecture.

Students will be introduced to the Environmental Humanities, an interdisciplinary field that brings together visual and plastic arts, design, literature, theatre, history, music, languages, philosophy, politics, law, film, media studies, anthropology, and cultural geography in conversation with the natural sciences. By complementing STEM-based climate change discussions, this module examines how History, Art, and Architecture have responded to environmental crises—rewriting histories and reimagining futures.

You will engage with key concepts such as climate justice, circular design, degrowth, ecocriticism, and sustainable cities, while critically analysing widely debated terms like Sustainable Development, the Anthropocene, Planetary Boundaries, and the Green Transition. If you’re interested in exploring how history, culture, and the arts shape our understanding of the climate crisis—and how they can help us navigate the future—this is the Trinity Elective for you!

What will I learn?

• Understand climate change as a cultural, political, and historical challenge, not just a scientific issue.
• Explore how history, art, and architecture contribute to climate debates and sustainability efforts.
• Critically analyse key environmental concepts, including climate justice, circular design, and planetary boundaries.
• Research, synthesize, and communicate ideas using Environmental Humanities methodologies.

What will I do?

• Attend 11 lectures and 4 tutorials that explore climate change through history, art, and culture.
• Work in small groups to create a Story Map that visually represents a climate-related issue.
• Deliver a short, formative presentation on your group project.
• Write a 2,500-word research essay, applying humanities-based analysis to a climate challenge.

How will this be delivered?

• Face-to-face lectures and tutorials.
• Independent research and reading, engaging with leading texts in climate history and theory.
• Collaborative group work, combining historical and theoretical approaches to climate change.

How will this be assessed?

• 70% Research Essay – Develop an independent, historically-informed argument on climate change.
• 30% Group Story Map – Visually explore a climate-related issue through interdisciplinary research.
• Formative Group Presentation – Share key findings from your project.

Who can take this Trinity Elective?

Any student eligible to take a Trinity Elective can select this module, if you're curious about exploring new perspectives and engaging with big ideas, this module is for you!

* Please note that assessment methods, assessment weightings and amount of contact hours are subject to change by the module coordinator. You can confirm all assessment details and expected contact hours with the module coordinator upon starting the elective.