SUSTAINABILITY, RESILIENCE, AND COLLAPSE: PAST SOCIOENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS

ARC2SRC

2020

Credit points: 15

Subject outline

Issues of sustainability and resilience are prominent today in light of accelerating climate deterioration, rising populations, and declining resources. But these issues are not new, and numerous past societies have faced these crises before. In this subject you will learn about past societies that have innovated and adapted successfully, resulting in sustainable and/or resilient societies that thrived. You will also learn about societies that failed to adapt and/or failed to innovate, resulting in societal collapse. These success or failure of a society within respective socioenvironmental systems - the systems that govern the interactions between human societies and the changing environments that they occupied, transformed, and attempted to adapt to, you will learn about sustainability, resilience and collapse from an archaeological perspective. The subject addresses La Trobe's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Essential.

School: Humanities and Social Sciences (Pre 2022)

Credit points: 15

Subject Co-ordinator: Keir Strickland

Available to Study Abroad/Exchange Students: Yes

Subject year level: Year Level 2 - UG

Exchange Students: No

Available as Elective: No

Learning Activities: N/A

Capstone subject: No

Subject particulars

Subject rules

Prerequisites: 60cp

Co-requisites: N/A

Incompatible subjects: ARC3SRC

Equivalent subjects: N/A

Quota Management Strategy: N/A

Quota-conditions or rules: N/A

Special conditions: N/A

Minimum credit point requirement: N/A

Assumed knowledge: N/A

Career Ready

Career-focused: No

Work-based learning: No

Self sourced or Uni sourced: N/A

Entire subject or partial subject: N/A

Total hours/days required: N/A

Location of WBL activity (region): N/A

WBL addtional requirements: N/A

Graduate capabilities & intended learning outcomes

Graduate Capabilities

COMMUNICATION - Communicating and Influencing

COMMUNICATION - Cultural Intelligence and Global Perspective

DISCIPLINE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

INQUIRY AND ANALYSIS - Creativity and Innovation

INQUIRY AND ANALYSIS - Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

INQUIRY AND ANALYSIS - Research and Evidence-Based Inquiry

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL - Adaptability and Self-Management

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL - Ethical and Social Responsibility

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL - Leadership and Teamwork

Intended Learning Outcomes

01. Identify how new scientific techniques can challenge deep-seated narratives around key events in past societal-transformations.

02. Evaluate alternative models and theories of societal collapse - recognising how such understandings are constantly re-framed by new theoretical perspectives, new evidence, and/or new analytical techniques.

03. Demonstrate an understanding of the difference between sustainability and resilience, using archaeological examples of both.

04. Apply novel analytical perspectives to archaeological and historical data in order to generate new understandings of societal adaptation to changing environmental conditions.

05. Recognise and describe the limitations of archaeological data in the study of changing societal interactions during times of crisis and change.

Melbourne (Bundoora), 2020, Semester 2, Blended

Overview

Online enrolment: Yes

Maximum enrolment size: N/A

Enrolment information: N/A

Subject Instance Co-ordinator: Keir Strickland

Class requirements

LectureWeek: 31 - 43
One 1.50 hour lecture per week on any day including weekend during the day from week 31 to week 43 and delivered via online.
Online lectures developed through 1BS

TutorialWeek: 31 - 43
One 1.50 hour tutorial per week on weekdays during the day from week 31 to week 43 and delivered via face-to-face.

Assessments

Assessment element	Comments	Category	Contribution	Hurdle	%	ILO*
Online quizzes (900 word equivalent)Quizzes	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	20	SILO1, SILO2, SILO3, SILO5
Flipped Exam - 2 hours - 1800 words equivalentIn this assessment students are given the exam questions in the final tutorial of the semester. They then work in groups to plan ideal answers, and to reflect upon gaps in their understanding or knowledge. This is used to guide their revision ahead of a closed book exam.	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	40	SILO1, SILO2, SILO3, SILO5
Written essay - 1800 wordsIndividual written assessment	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	40	SILO1, SILO2, SILO3, SILO4, SILO5