Searching For The Anthropocene

Although nominally aiming to introduce students to the idea of the Anthropocene, this course has a deeper objective which will become clear as the semester progresses. I wish for students to leave this seminar understanding that humans have always been actively shaping the global environment and climate. The idea of a ‘start date’ obscures a deeper, more complex reality of humanity’s relationship with nature, and our global impact on ecology, geology and climate. In using an historical lens to approach this modern debate, I want students to leave with an understanding that climate change and environmental change are not finite moments – they are long, sometimes invisible processes that stretch back to the earliest days of humanity.