Famine: The Geography of Scarcity

This subject is not offered in 2014.

Contact Hours: Two 1 hour lectures and one 1 hour tutorial per week. Total Time Commitment: 3 contact hours per week. It is a hurdle requirement that students attend 8 out of 12 weeks of tutorials. Attendance will be taken.

For the purposes of considering request 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 explains the physical and social drivers of famines and related crises in social-ecological systems, including the collapse of civilizations and violent conflicts seemingly triggered by scarcity of food, water, and arable land. It proposes theories that explain famines and crises of scarcity, and tests these with evidence and cases studies. In this way the subject introduces key issues, concepts, and theories central to geography, development, and environmental studies. The subject is interdisciplinary, providing student a broad range of knowledge and analytical tools.

• Understand the causes of hunger and famine;
• Understand the science of climate and food production that contributes to variations in food supply
• Understand how scarcity has contributed to the collapse of civilizations throughout history, and still influences contemporary societies
• Understand relations between population, environmental change and food supply;
• Understand the interactions between environmental and social dimensions of scarcity
• Understand how solutions to hunger are designed on the basis of particular theories about scarcity;
• Have developed skills in empirical and theoretical evaluation of theories of scarcity;
• Have gained a basic understanding of the discipline of geography and the interdisciplinary field of development studies.

1. 1. Library skills development session (10% of final grade). This assessment will help students identify the sources needed for the first short essay;
   2. Three short essays (3 x 600 words) (35% of final grade);
   3. Students (in groups if needed) will be required to lead an activity and discussion once per term (20% of final grade);
   4. A take-home final exam (1350 words) (35% of final grade) will be due one week following the final class. The topic will be provided in the final day of class.

   Each of the assessment components must be attempted (i.e. a submission must be made for marking) for a student to be able to pass this subject.

None.

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

• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Music

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.

Upon successful completion of this subject, students will:

• be capable of thinking critically and analytically

• be capable of testing theories with evidence;

• be capable of writing essays that weigh-up evidence concerning complex physical and social phenomena; and

• be capable of working in groups.

Students enrolled in the BSc (both pre-2008 degree and new degree), or a combined BSc course (except for the BA/BSc) will receive science credit for the completion of this subject.