Syllabus, Ethics of Nature (Siðfræði náttúrunnar: HSP722M), 2023
Download syllabus (.docx): Ethics of Nature 2023 information and syllabus
| Week-Date-Lecturer | Topic | Required Texts | Other Information |
| Week 1
21. Aug.
|
Introduction to course | “General information and syllabus” (this document)
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| Week 2
28. Aug. (OS) |
Environmental ethics:
History and concepts |
- Jason Kawall, “A History of Environmental Ethics“ - UNEP: „Making Peace With Nature“ (just skim the first 17 short pages) |
Groups will be formed |
| Week 3
4. Sep.
|
Connecting to (our) nature 1 | - Michel Loreau: "Nature That Makes Us Human" (chapters 7-9)
- Ólafur Páll Jónsson et al.: „On Being in nature: Aldo Leopold as an Educator for the 21st Century“ |
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| Week 4
11. Sep.
|
Ecological processes | - Roope Oskari Kaaronen: “Reframing Tacit Human–Nature Relations” - Eugene Gendlin: “Body- Environment” (5 pages from A Process Model) - Ole Sandberg (video): „Nature Philosophy in the land of Ice and Fire: Process thinking in an Icelandic context“ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzbDH0lro18) |
Student presentation – group 1 |
| Week 5
18. Sep.
|
Ethics of care and indigenous ethics | - Kyle Powys Whyte & Christine J. Cuomo: “Ethics of Caring in Environmental Ethics”
- Gregory Cajete: „Native Science - Natural Laws of Interdependence“ - Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen (video): „Viking Environmentalism“ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUjJ6NtA9T0) |
Student presentation – group 2
First multiple choice exam |
| Week 6
25. Sep.
|
Eco-feminism | - Karen J Warren: "Nature is a Feminist Issue"
- Janet Biehl: "Problems in Ecofeminism" - Pinkola Estés: “Women who run with Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype” |
Student presentation – group 3
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| Week 7
2. Oct. |
Animals and other sentient beings
|
- Peter Singer: “All Animals are Equal” - Morten Tønnessen & J Beever: "Beyond Sentience: Biosemiotics as Foundation for Animal and Environmental Ethics" - „Melanie Challenger: "Animals in the Room, Why we can and should listen to other species“ (also available in audio form at https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/animals-in-the-room/) |
Student presentation – group 4 |
| Week 8
9. Oct. |
Politics of food | - Corine Pelluchon: „Nourishment - A Philosophy of the Political Body“ - Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing: "The Mushroom at the End of the World" - Interview with Chef Njathi Kabui: https://ukombozireview.com/blog/decolonizing-our-food-a-chefs-quest-for-food-justice/ |
Student presentation – group 5
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| Week 9
16. Oct. |
Connecting to (our) nature 2 | - H.W. Schroeder: “The Felt Sense of Natural Environments”
- P. Skúlason: “Meditation at the Edge of Askja” |
Student presentation – group 6
Second multiple choice exam |
| Week 10
23. Oct. (SÞ) |
Connecting to (our) Nature 3
|
- Sigríður Þorgeirsdottir: „The Embodied, Experiential and Elemental Turn in Environmental Ethics“ - Claire Petitmengin: „Anchoring in lived experience as an act of resistance” |
Student presentation – group 7
|
| Week 11
30. Oct. |
Climate change and social change | - Ole Sandberg: “Climate Disruption, Political Stability, and Collective Imagination”
- Nancy Tuana: “From a Lifeboat Ethic to Anthropocenean Sensibilities” |
Student presentation – group 8
|
| Week 12
6. Nov. |
Cooperation and collective action
|
- Elinor Ostrom: “Reflections on the Commons”
- Irina Papazu: “Authoring Participation” (2 short videos that will help with understanding Ostrom: |
Student presentation – group 9 |
| Week 13
13. Nov. |
+ Practical information on exams, questions, etc. |
To be announced (open for now) |
Student presentation – group 10
Third multiple choice exam |