About the programme
Introduction
What is nature? Why conserve nature? What are our ethical, aesthetic and spiritual relations to the environment? How do cultural and social practices shape the natural world? This exciting programme is designed for anyone interested in exploring these questions and gaining knowledge of contemporary theoretical and conceptual debates concerning relationships between environment, nature, culture and society.
Many students who become interested in questions concerning environment, culture and society often do so from single disciplinary perspectives, perhaps discovered late during their undergraduate (or other) degrees. This masters programme offers the opportunity for students to develop their interests at an advanced level within a multidisciplinary context by drawing on expertise from across the University, especially from geography, philosophy, theology, anthropology, development studies, and science and technology studies. The programme aims to equip students with the tools and background needed to think critically across disciplinary divides in order to address a range of environmental issues and problems.
As a programme that reaches across Schools and Colleges at Edinburgh, it draws on a wide range of world-leading expertise. The programme is based in the Institute of Geography in the School of GeoSciences and has links to the Human Geography Research Group, the Centre for Environmental Change and Sustainability (CECS), Science and Technology Studies, and Innogen. Environment, Culture and Society is part of a large and vibrant postgraduate community comprised of students from a variety of masters and PhD programmes in the School of Geosciences.
Programme Objectives
- To provide students with knowledge and understanding of key concepts and theories, including: nature-society interactions; social and cultural practices which shape environment and nature; ethical, aesthetic and spiritual values in relation to natural and modified environments;
- To develop a critical perspective on contemporary theoretical debates concerning the environment and consider their practical significance in policy and the realm of everyday life;
- To develop and enhance multidisciplinary research skills.
Teaching Methods
- Lectures with questions and group discussion
- Workshops, small group work, presentations
- Verbal and written feedback
- Guest lectures from external experts
- Reading groups
- Short field courses
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Current Student Profiles
Graduate Attributes
Our graduates are equipped to think critically across disciplinary divides, to generate new knowledge related to the environment, and to use this knowledge effectively to address urgent environmental challenges. This knowledge is brought into a range of contexts and practices, including environmental policy, conservation, education, public consultation, the arts, and PhD research.
Please feel free to get in touch if you have any queries.
This article was published on Jan 5, 2012