SGIA3851: Environmental Politics

• Any Level 2 SGIA module

• None

• None

• To provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of the major concepts, theories, actors, and debates in the field of environmental politics;
• To enable students to critically analyse and constructively engage with issues, policies, and debates in environmental politics;
• Encourage students to foster a deep understanding of the normative dimensions inherent in environmental politics.

• This module adopts a comprehensive understanding of environmental politics, with an emphasis on perspectives from comparative politics. The content may vary from one year to another, but it will indicatively include:
• Multi-level environmental governance;
• Environmental movements and activism;
• Green parties and party competition;
• Public opinion and behaviour in environmental politics;
• Environmental justice and rights;
• Energy and natural resource politics.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Through the module students will gain an understanding of:
• Concepts and theories in environmental politics;
• Actors in environmental governance;
• Theoretical and empirical debates in the academic literature;
• Sources of data and methods of analysis in academic research in the field of environmental politics.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students will also develop some subject specific skills, such as:
• Identify the academic literature on environmental politics;
• Critically assess the major concepts, theories, actors, and debates in the literature;
• Construct evidence-based arguments to engage with issues and debates in environmental politics;
• Cultivate a profound comprehension of the normative aspects inherent in environmental politics.

Key Skills:

• Students will also develop some important key skills, suitable for underpinning study at this and subsequent levels, such as:
• Independent learning within a defined framework of study at an advanced level;
• Independent thought in analysing and critiquing existing scholarship on the subject area and in evaluating its contribution;
• Independent thinking informed by the academic debate at an advanced level;
• Effective oral and written communication of research and policy applications;
• Delivering and integrating peer feedback;
• Advanced essay-writing skills and the ability to work to a deadline.

• Teaching and learning are through a series of one-hour lectures, associated series of two-hour seminars, and a final three-hour workshop.
• The lectures provide formal instruction and draw attention to scholarship on environmental politics. The seminars allow students to engage in in-depth exploration of scholarly debates in this scholarship. In the workshop, students present their projects and benefit from feedback, including that from their peers.
• The summative assessment for this module has two components. Firstly, students write a 2,000-word essay that draws upon module readings to address predetermined essay questions. Secondly, students write a 3,000-word case study centred on environmental issues. They will select a specific environmental issue or policy and employ module knowledge and skills to various aspects of the political dynamics and policy outcomes.
• Formative assessment also comes in two forms. First, the instructor assesses a 1,000-word essay drawing on module content to answer a pre-selected question. Second, students review a 1,000-word case study from their peers, critiquing and providing feedback to each other on their work.

In the first formative assessment, the instructor provides feedback on 1,000-word essays drawing on module content to answer a pre-selected question. In the second, students assess a 1,000-word case study from their peers.

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