Overview

To provide a comprehensive understanding of environmental problems, including the threat of destruction of the current regime of the global ecosystem, of the forces driving this destruction, and what is required to address and overcome these problems.

Requisites

Prerequisites

50 credit points

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
04-August-2025
02-November-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-August-2025
Census date
31-August-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
19-September-2025
Results released date
09-December-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Analyse the state of our environment and the causes driving its destruction
  • Critically review the debate between prevailing economic theories and the alternative provided by institutionalist forms of ecological economics and human ecology
  • Evaluate the use of cost-benefit or risk-benefit analyses to assess policies, and defend the alternative provided by retrospective path analysis.
  • Systematically articulate the main changes required to create an environmentally sustainable society and civilization

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Live Online
Lecture		 1.00  12 weeks  12
On Campus
Class		 2.00  12 weeks  24
Specified Activities 
Readings		 5.00  12 weeks  60
Unspecified Activities 
Independent Learning		 4.50  12 weeks  54
TOTAL     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Essay 1 Individual  40%  1,2,3,4 
Essay 2 Individual  50%  1,2,3,4 
Essay proposal/presentation Individual  10%  1,2,3,4

Content

  • The environmental crisis as a global phenomenon, and the implications of the crisis for Australians;
  • Ethics, cultural analysis, political philosophy and policy formation and their relationship;
  • The assumptions of prevailing economic theory and alternative ways of conceiving our relations to each other and to nature;
  • A framework of ideas as the basis for formulating environmentally sound political and economic policies to replace those dominating Australian society;

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.