A History of Nature

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website : http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject traces some of the historical changes in scientific and environmental thought that occurred over the last 500 years, as Europeans spread out from the continent during the voyages of discovery, and discovered new frontiers that challenged their scientific and social beliefs. We will especially follow the changes in the environmental sciences that accompanied these voyages as notions of geography, natural history, evolutionary biology, geology and ecology were transformed. We will also examine some recent examples of new understandings of "nature". Case studies will include America, Australia, and other parts of the colonial world including the Pacific islands. Environmental issues ranging from introduced species, sustainability, resource management, pollution, overpopulation, environmental engineering and environmental philosophies will also be examined. This subject should be of interest to students who would like to learn more about the origins of the environmental sciences and our ongoing attempts to live within a changing environment.

Students who successfully complete this subjects will:

• demonstrate a general knowledge of the historical changes in scientific thought that occurred over the last 500 years as a response to European colonial expansion.
• develop an appreciation of the main changes in the environmental sciences as well as intellectual, philosophical, cultural and aesthetic influences and responses of Europeans to landscape, flora, fauna and indigenous human beings.
• demonstrate an awareness of some of the cultural changes which accompanied new scientific understandings.
• gain experience in independent research.
• A further aim of the subject is to develop broader skills in historical understanding and analysis of debates. You will be exposed in this subject to arguments among historians and scientists, and will be expected to consider why they differ and how you can make your own judgements about their arguments. You will be asked to learn how to read and interpret documents of various kinds as historical sources. You will be expected to develop an understanding of a variety of environmental and philosophical concepts. Finally, you will be expected to exercise the technical skills involved in writing history.

A reading pack will be available for purchase from the University Book Shop in December 2009.

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Students who successfully complete this subjects will:

• develop skills in written and oral communication.
• conduct independent research.
• make appropriate use of primary and secondary sources in mounting an argument.
• form defensible judgements based on a critical evaluation of conflicting arguments.

For science third year, see 136335(A History of Nature (Science 3)). This subject is available for 2nd year science credit for students enrolled in the BSc (pre-2008 degree only), or a combined BSc course (except for the BA/BSc).

This subject satisfies the third-year breadth requirement for third-year students in the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Biomedicine when taken in 2010 only.