Nils Guettler: Catalogue data in Spring Semester 2020

Name	PD Dr. Nils Guettler
Field	History of science and environmental history
Address	Professur für Wissenschaftsforsch. ETH Zürich, RZ G 9.1 Clausiusstrasse 59 8092 Zürich SWITZERLAND
E-mail	nils.guettler@wiss.gess.ethz.ch
Department	Humanities, Social and Political Sciences
Relationship	Privatdozent

Number	Title	ECTS	Hours	Lecturers
851-0158-13L	Ecology and Environmentalism Number of participants limited to 40 Particularly suitable for students of D-ERDW, D-HEST, D-USYS, D-BIOL	3 credits	2S	N. Guettler
Abstract	The notion of „ecology“ refers to both, scientific research on environments as well as their protection. But how have academic ecology and the environmental movements intersected throughout history?
Learning objective	In the seminar, students will read and discuss key sources as well as secondary literature on the knowledge transfers between scientific ecology and the environmental movements of the 19th and 20th century. Topics range from 19th-century homeland movement and the rise of ecological awareness in colonial settings, to the rise of an environmental awareness during the Cold War, with a special focus on „green“ politics in Europe. Apart from scientists and „counter-scientists“ the seminar focuses on concepts and ideas that circulated between academic ecology and different nature movements. The participants learn to engage historically with original texts as well as to handle independently the extensive historical literature on the history of environmentalism. At the same time, they develop a critical understanding of different political agendas that have shaped academic and popular ecology until the present day. Students also learn to communicate their findings by writing short (and fictive) blog posts on different aspects of this history.