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Global Environmental History unit (HTA348)

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Unit year 2026

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Location: Hobart, Online

Introduction

In the modern era humanity has transformed landscapes, cleared forests, driven species to extinction, and spread poisons across the whole Earth. The practices and ideas underpinning this degradation and pollution is the subject of an area of study called environmental history, which asks how people’s actions and ideas about the natural world have changed over time. This unit will study how people have imagined and changed the environment at a global scale since the rise of global European empires, concentrating on the eighteenth through twentieth centuries. Our central themes will be extraction, institutions, and justice. Extraction takes in mining, agriculture, plantation forestry, and bioprospecting—it changes landscapes and social relations. Institutions, whether governmental, scientific or civil society, shape how environments are known, felt, and governed. And justice reminds us that different people feel the effects of environmental change and development differently, in their livelihoods and into their body’s cells. This unit will also consider and historicise key concepts, including wilderness, Anthropocene, nature, and the commons, among others.

Summary

Unit name Global Environmental History
Unit code HTA348
Credit points 12.5
College/School Arts and Society
Humanities and Social Sciences
Discipline History and Classics
Coordinator Doctor Alessandro Antonello
Available as an elective? Yes
Delivered By University of Tasmania
Level Advanced

Sustainable Development Goals

The Unit Coordinator has identified that this unit aligns with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals. We welcome your thoughts and feedback on the alignment of the unit with these goals.

Availability

Location Study period Attendance options Available to
Hobart Semester 2 This unit is available through on-campus delivery Available to International Students Available to Domestic Students
Online Semester 2 This unit is available through off-campus delivery Available to International Students Available to Domestic Students
  • Key:
  • This unit is available through on-campus delivery On-campus
  • This unit is available through off-campus delivery Off-Campus
  • Available to International Students International students
  • Available to Domestic Students Domestic students
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Key Dates

Study Period Start date Census date WW date End date
Semester 2 06/07/2026 28/07/2026 31/08/2026 25/10/2026

* The Final WW Date is the final date from which you can withdraw from the unit without academic penalty, however you will still incur a financial liability (refer to How do I withdraw from a unit? for more information).

Unit census dates currently displaying for 2026 are indicative and subject to change. Finalised census dates for 2026 will be available from the 1st October 2025. Note census date cutoff is 11.59pm AEST (AEDT during October to March).

About Census Dates

Learning Outcomes

  • Analyse human responses to and influences on the environment in the past
  • Apply a historical lens to environments and landscapes
  • Conceptualise change and connections across different temporal and geographical scales and contexts
  • Communicate sophisticated descriptions and analyses about landscapes, objects, events and developments according to the conventions of the discipline of history

Fee Information

Field of Education Commencing Student Contribution 1,3 Grandfathered Student Contribution 1,3 Approved Pathway Course Student Contribution 2,3 Domestic Full Fee 4
090305 $2,174.00 $1,020.00 not applicable $2,249.00
  • Available as a Commonwealth Supported Place
  • HECS-HELP is available on this unit, depending on your eligibility3
  • FEE-HELP is available on this unit, depending on your eligibility4

1 Please refer to more information on student contribution amounts.
2 Please refer to more information on eligibility and Approved Pathway courses.
3 Please refer to more information on eligibility for HECS-HELP.
4 Please refer to more information on eligibility for FEE-HELP.

If you have any questions in relation to the fees, please contact UniConnect or more information is available on StudyAssist.

Please note: international students should refer to What is an indicative Fee? to get an indicative course cost.

Requisites

Prerequisites

25 credit points at Introductory level or higher

Teaching

Teaching Pattern

1.5 hour Weekly Online Lecture, 2hr Weekly Seminar

AssessmentParticipation and Engagement (30%)|Public History Project (30%)|Research Essay (40%)
TimetableView the lecture timetable | View the full unit timetable

Textbooks

Required

Required readings will be listed in the unit outline prior to the start of classes.

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