6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4023490FNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester
2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Languages & Humanities
Department
History, Archaeology, Arts, Philosophy and Ethics
Educational team
Peter Erdkamp (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
10 contact hours Lecture
20 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
120 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The course consists of lectures, reading assignments that are collectively discussed, and an online meeting with guest experts. Lectures will offer introductions on paleoclimatology. Reading assignments discuss several topics: the impact of climate change on agriculture and the link with epidemics; the Little ice Age in Europe and China; the role of climate change in the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Reading assignments on each of the topics cover the arguments and methodologies in recent debates. Reading assignments are discussed during online and on campus meetings. All reading material will be provided on Canvas.
Students prepare for the discussion of the reading material through assignments. These are not evaluated, but serve to prepare for the discussions. Students prepare for a meeting with one of the guest experts, either individually or in small groups (depending on the number of participating students). Students will be assigned to one of the speakers before the meeting.

Additional info

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Learning Outcomes

General competences

Having completed this course, students can evaluate the palaeoclimatological and historical data and arguments in the debate on the impact of climate on society in the preindustrial world, and they can participate in this debate based on their own arguments.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 80% of the final mark.
LEC Presentation determines 20% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Written exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 80% of the final mark.

    Note: Open book

Within the LEC Presentation category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • assignment with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 20% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Evaluation consists of the meeting with the guest expert (20% of final grade) and a written exam (80%). The students prepare for the meeting by reading 2 or 3 recent articles of the expert. 

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of History: default (only offered in Dutch)