The course aims to offer male and female students the most recent methodological and theoretical tools of the environmental humanities (EH). Starting from an idea of environmental humanities as a post (or anti) - disciplinary arena, the course will encourage students* to think beyond disciplinary boundaries to address the environmental and social challenges of the present.
The course is divided into three parts. The introductory part is designed to provide an overview of EH through: (a) a basic knowledge of the main directions of EH; (b) an exploration of the methods used.
The second part of the course focuses on a central theme of the debate in EH, namely the Anthropocene (the age of humans) and possible alternatives. In particular, the second part focuses on the Wasteocene concept (era of waste). Finally, the third part includes a laboratory phase in which male and female students will be called to deal with a micro research/action project, to apply what they have learned in the course.
Expected learning outcomes (1) A thorough knowledge of the main schools of EH (2) A fair familiarity with the methods employed in EH
(3) An in-depth knowledge of the Anthropocene debate and its critical issues with a focus on the Wasteocene
(4) The ability to design and execute an EH micro-project/action (which also serves as a learning assessment)
(5) Develop critical analysis skills of scientific texts and other types of sources
The course is divided into three parts. The introductory part is designed to provide an overview of EH through: (a) a basic knowledge of the main directions of EH; (b) an exploration of the methods used.
The second part of the course focuses on a central theme of the debate in EH, namely the Anthropocene (the age of humans) and possible alternatives. In particular, the second part focuses on the Wasteocene concept (era of waste). Finally, the third part includes a laboratory phase in which male and female students will be called to deal with a micro research/action project, to apply what they have learned in the course.
Expected learning outcomes (1) A thorough knowledge of the main schools of EH (2) A fair familiarity with the methods employed in EH
(3) An in-depth knowledge of the Anthropocene debate and its critical issues with a focus on the Wasteocene
(4) The ability to design and execute an EH micro-project/action (which also serves as a learning assessment)
(5) Develop critical analysis skills of scientific texts and other types of sources
Curriculum
scheda docente
materiale didattico
After defining the core characteristics and contents of the field of Environmental Humanities, we will focus on how the human and social sciences today position themselves in relation to the regulative ontology of the neoliberal growth system. This system is based on an apparently contradictory blend of vitalist unleashing and rational anticipatory ordering, where the stakes are no longer the disciplining of life (at all levels), but rather the possibility of profiting from indeterminacy and the continuous release of energy.
In response to this governmental scenario, social theory has taken various paths, which will be explored during the first part of the course: from the so-called “ontological turn” to feminist new materialisms, from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to speculative realism, from Marxist political ecology to degrowth.
- Romano O., D'Alisa G., “Degrowth and limits”, in A. Machin e M. Wissenburg (a cura di), Handbook of Environmental Political Theory in the Anthropocene, (pp. 99-108), Cheltham : Edward Elgar Publishing 2025 [doi: 10.4337/9781802208955.00016].
Mutuazione: 20710678 INTRODUZIONE ALLE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES in Scienze umane per l'ambiente LM-1 R ROMANO ONOFRIO, Gallini Stefania, FRACASSA UGO
Programma
(Environmental Sociology Module: 2 ECTS credits)After defining the core characteristics and contents of the field of Environmental Humanities, we will focus on how the human and social sciences today position themselves in relation to the regulative ontology of the neoliberal growth system. This system is based on an apparently contradictory blend of vitalist unleashing and rational anticipatory ordering, where the stakes are no longer the disciplining of life (at all levels), but rather the possibility of profiting from indeterminacy and the continuous release of energy.
In response to this governmental scenario, social theory has taken various paths, which will be explored during the first part of the course: from the so-called “ontological turn” to feminist new materialisms, from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to speculative realism, from Marxist political ecology to degrowth.
Testi Adottati
- Pellizzoni L., Cavalcare l’ingovernabile. Natura, neoliberalismo e nuovi materialismi, Orthotes, Napoli-Salerno 2023 [cap. 1, pp. 15-52; cap. 3, pp. 77-142].- Romano O., D'Alisa G., “Degrowth and limits”, in A. Machin e M. Wissenburg (a cura di), Handbook of Environmental Political Theory in the Anthropocene, (pp. 99-108), Cheltham : Edward Elgar Publishing 2025 [doi: 10.4337/9781802208955.00016].
Modalità Frequenza
In addition to attending lessons in person, students will be encouraged to contribute with comments, observations, questions, as well as to participate in collective discussions in the classroom.Modalità Valutazione
Oral interview on the topics developed during of the course.
scheda docente
materiale didattico
Mutuazione: 20710678 INTRODUZIONE ALLE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES in Scienze umane per l'ambiente LM-1 R ROMANO ONOFRIO, Gallini Stefania, FRACASSA UGO
scheda docente
materiale didattico
U. Fracassa, “Celati verso la foce” (in, Effetti reali. La non fiction tra Italia, Francia, Spagna e America Latina Carabba, 2025)
Mutuazione: 20710678 INTRODUZIONE ALLE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES in Scienze umane per l'ambiente LM-1 R ROMANO ONOFRIO, Gallini Stefania, FRACASSA UGO
Programma
The italian journey occupies a very peculiar position in the periegetic genre, at least since the century of the Grand Tour. In the second half of the 20th century, particularly between the early 1950s and the end of the 1980s, a number of Italian writers, sometimes with the collaboration of a photographer, tried to turn a “sustainable gaze” on such a celebrated landscape. By following the course of inland waters, first and foremost the Po River, that is, by favouring riverbanks and plains over riverside panoramas and the amenity of the reliefs, authors such as Cesare Zavattini and Gianni Celati put into practice an ecology of the gaze. Also thanks to the comparison with other literary journeys on the course of great rivers (cf. C. Magris, Danube, 1986) in which the landscape remains a privileged occasion for leaps of historical-geographical erudition, the analysis of the writings of the two Emilian authors will allow the introduction of concepts (nescience, wholesomeness) capable of founding a paradigm, alternative to that of traditional odeporics.Testi Adottati
F. Careri, Walkscapes. Camminare come pratica estetica, Einaudi 2006 (una selezione di paragrafi a cura del docente sarà proposta nel corso delle lezioni)U. Fracassa, “Celati verso la foce” (in, Effetti reali. La non fiction tra Italia, Francia, Spagna e America Latina Carabba, 2025)
Modalità Frequenza
Attendance is free and will not be recorded by the teacher. Attendance is necessary but not compulsory.
scheda docente
materiale didattico
After defining the core characteristics and contents of the field of Environmental Humanities, we will focus on how the human and social sciences today position themselves in relation to the regulative ontology of the neoliberal growth system. This system is based on an apparently contradictory blend of vitalist unleashing and rational anticipatory ordering, where the stakes are no longer the disciplining of life (at all levels), but rather the possibility of profiting from indeterminacy and the continuous release of energy.
In response to this governmental scenario, social theory has taken various paths, which will be explored during the first part of the course: from the so-called “ontological turn” to feminist new materialisms, from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to speculative realism, from Marxist political ecology to degrowth.
- Romano O., D'Alisa G., “Degrowth and limits”, in A. Machin e M. Wissenburg (a cura di), Handbook of Environmental Political Theory in the Anthropocene, (pp. 99-108), Cheltham : Edward Elgar Publishing 2025 [doi: 10.4337/9781802208955.00016].
Mutuazione: 20710678 INTRODUZIONE ALLE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES in Scienze umane per l'ambiente LM-1 R ROMANO ONOFRIO, Gallini Stefania, FRACASSA UGO
Programma
(Environmental Sociology Module: 2 ECTS credits)After defining the core characteristics and contents of the field of Environmental Humanities, we will focus on how the human and social sciences today position themselves in relation to the regulative ontology of the neoliberal growth system. This system is based on an apparently contradictory blend of vitalist unleashing and rational anticipatory ordering, where the stakes are no longer the disciplining of life (at all levels), but rather the possibility of profiting from indeterminacy and the continuous release of energy.
In response to this governmental scenario, social theory has taken various paths, which will be explored during the first part of the course: from the so-called “ontological turn” to feminist new materialisms, from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to speculative realism, from Marxist political ecology to degrowth.
Testi Adottati
- Pellizzoni L., Cavalcare l’ingovernabile. Natura, neoliberalismo e nuovi materialismi, Orthotes, Napoli-Salerno 2023 [cap. 1, pp. 15-52; cap. 3, pp. 77-142].- Romano O., D'Alisa G., “Degrowth and limits”, in A. Machin e M. Wissenburg (a cura di), Handbook of Environmental Political Theory in the Anthropocene, (pp. 99-108), Cheltham : Edward Elgar Publishing 2025 [doi: 10.4337/9781802208955.00016].
Modalità Frequenza
In addition to attending lessons in person, students will be encouraged to contribute with comments, observations, questions, as well as to participate in collective discussions in the classroom.Modalità Valutazione
Oral interview on the topics developed during of the course.
scheda docente
materiale didattico
Mutuazione: 20710678 INTRODUZIONE ALLE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES in Scienze umane per l'ambiente LM-1 R ROMANO ONOFRIO, Gallini Stefania, FRACASSA UGO
scheda docente
materiale didattico
U. Fracassa, “Celati verso la foce” (in, Effetti reali. La non fiction tra Italia, Francia, Spagna e America Latina Carabba, 2025)
Mutuazione: 20710678 INTRODUZIONE ALLE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES in Scienze umane per l'ambiente LM-1 R ROMANO ONOFRIO, Gallini Stefania, FRACASSA UGO
Programma
The italian journey occupies a very peculiar position in the periegetic genre, at least since the century of the Grand Tour. In the second half of the 20th century, particularly between the early 1950s and the end of the 1980s, a number of Italian writers, sometimes with the collaboration of a photographer, tried to turn a “sustainable gaze” on such a celebrated landscape. By following the course of inland waters, first and foremost the Po River, that is, by favouring riverbanks and plains over riverside panoramas and the amenity of the reliefs, authors such as Cesare Zavattini and Gianni Celati put into practice an ecology of the gaze. Also thanks to the comparison with other literary journeys on the course of great rivers (cf. C. Magris, Danube, 1986) in which the landscape remains a privileged occasion for leaps of historical-geographical erudition, the analysis of the writings of the two Emilian authors will allow the introduction of concepts (nescience, wholesomeness) capable of founding a paradigm, alternative to that of traditional odeporics.Testi Adottati
F. Careri, Walkscapes. Camminare come pratica estetica, Einaudi 2006 (una selezione di paragrafi a cura del docente sarà proposta nel corso delle lezioni)U. Fracassa, “Celati verso la foce” (in, Effetti reali. La non fiction tra Italia, Francia, Spagna e America Latina Carabba, 2025)
Modalità Frequenza
Attendance is free and will not be recorded by the teacher. Attendance is necessary but not compulsory.
scheda docente
materiale didattico
After defining the core characteristics and contents of the field of Environmental Humanities, we will focus on how the human and social sciences today position themselves in relation to the regulative ontology of the neoliberal growth system. This system is based on an apparently contradictory blend of vitalist unleashing and rational anticipatory ordering, where the stakes are no longer the disciplining of life (at all levels), but rather the possibility of profiting from indeterminacy and the continuous release of energy.
In response to this governmental scenario, social theory has taken various paths, which will be explored during the first part of the course: from the so-called “ontological turn” to feminist new materialisms, from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to speculative realism, from Marxist political ecology to degrowth.
- Romano O., D'Alisa G., “Degrowth and limits”, in A. Machin e M. Wissenburg (a cura di), Handbook of Environmental Political Theory in the Anthropocene, (pp. 99-108), Cheltham : Edward Elgar Publishing 2025 [doi: 10.4337/9781802208955.00016].
Mutuazione: 20710678 INTRODUZIONE ALLE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES in Scienze umane per l'ambiente LM-1 R ROMANO ONOFRIO, Gallini Stefania, FRACASSA UGO
Programma
(Environmental Sociology Module: 2 ECTS credits)After defining the core characteristics and contents of the field of Environmental Humanities, we will focus on how the human and social sciences today position themselves in relation to the regulative ontology of the neoliberal growth system. This system is based on an apparently contradictory blend of vitalist unleashing and rational anticipatory ordering, where the stakes are no longer the disciplining of life (at all levels), but rather the possibility of profiting from indeterminacy and the continuous release of energy.
In response to this governmental scenario, social theory has taken various paths, which will be explored during the first part of the course: from the so-called “ontological turn” to feminist new materialisms, from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to speculative realism, from Marxist political ecology to degrowth.
Testi Adottati
- Pellizzoni L., Cavalcare l’ingovernabile. Natura, neoliberalismo e nuovi materialismi, Orthotes, Napoli-Salerno 2023 [cap. 1, pp. 15-52; cap. 3, pp. 77-142].- Romano O., D'Alisa G., “Degrowth and limits”, in A. Machin e M. Wissenburg (a cura di), Handbook of Environmental Political Theory in the Anthropocene, (pp. 99-108), Cheltham : Edward Elgar Publishing 2025 [doi: 10.4337/9781802208955.00016].
Modalità Frequenza
In addition to attending lessons in person, students will be encouraged to contribute with comments, observations, questions, as well as to participate in collective discussions in the classroom.Modalità Valutazione
Oral interview on the topics developed during of the course.
scheda docente
materiale didattico
Mutuazione: 20710678 INTRODUZIONE ALLE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES in Scienze umane per l'ambiente LM-1 R ROMANO ONOFRIO, Gallini Stefania, FRACASSA UGO
scheda docente
materiale didattico
U. Fracassa, “Celati verso la foce” (in, Effetti reali. La non fiction tra Italia, Francia, Spagna e America Latina Carabba, 2025)
Mutuazione: 20710678 INTRODUZIONE ALLE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES in Scienze umane per l'ambiente LM-1 R ROMANO ONOFRIO, Gallini Stefania, FRACASSA UGO
Programma
The italian journey occupies a very peculiar position in the periegetic genre, at least since the century of the Grand Tour. In the second half of the 20th century, particularly between the early 1950s and the end of the 1980s, a number of Italian writers, sometimes with the collaboration of a photographer, tried to turn a “sustainable gaze” on such a celebrated landscape. By following the course of inland waters, first and foremost the Po River, that is, by favouring riverbanks and plains over riverside panoramas and the amenity of the reliefs, authors such as Cesare Zavattini and Gianni Celati put into practice an ecology of the gaze. Also thanks to the comparison with other literary journeys on the course of great rivers (cf. C. Magris, Danube, 1986) in which the landscape remains a privileged occasion for leaps of historical-geographical erudition, the analysis of the writings of the two Emilian authors will allow the introduction of concepts (nescience, wholesomeness) capable of founding a paradigm, alternative to that of traditional odeporics.Testi Adottati
F. Careri, Walkscapes. Camminare come pratica estetica, Einaudi 2006 (una selezione di paragrafi a cura del docente sarà proposta nel corso delle lezioni)U. Fracassa, “Celati verso la foce” (in, Effetti reali. La non fiction tra Italia, Francia, Spagna e America Latina Carabba, 2025)
Modalità Frequenza
Attendance is free and will not be recorded by the teacher. Attendance is necessary but not compulsory.