SUM4200 – Advanced Introduction to Development and Environment
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
This course takes up key issues in sustainable development. We identify key systemic features of the Anthropocene era, and study how different lives are lived under this new planetary condition. We explore the complex interplay between different scales and localities, the role of different actors, as well as the relation between research and policy, within the sustainable development agenda. The course aims to give students a keen sense of the problems involved and how they interconnect; an advanced grasp of how those problems have been understood and theorized within social science and humanist scholarship; and the creativity to see how theory can be linked up with practice to create change.
Learning outcome
- To better understand what has caused the Anthropocene, what the consequences of this condition are, and what avenues might lead to change.
- To recognize and critically assess how various actors and groups contribute to, and are affected by, processes of global change.
- To identify and discuss the problems and dilemmas involved in the ambition to transition to sustainable development.
- To write and present academic texts of various length and complexity, discuss problems in class and give presentations in various formats, and comment constructively on the work of peers.
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master`s Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Formal prerequisite knowledge
The Master's programme is directed towards students with a specialization equivalent to at least 80 ECTS within subjects from the humanities or social sciences, or a specialization equivalent to at least 80 ECTS in sustainable development, or equivalent subjects, as long as the specialization is deemed relevant for the program.
The minimum requirement for admission is that the students must have a bachelor’s degree (equivalent at least to a good second-class honours degree from a reputable university). Students with a natural science background should have at least half a year`s studies (30 ECTS) within the humanities or social sciences to prepare them for the interdisciplinary challenges this programme offers.
Recommended previous knowledge
Students must also have a good working knowledge of English and should be able to read and follow lectures in this language as well as produce academic texts in English.
Overlapping courses
- 15 credits overlap with SUM3000 – Development and environment: From theory to practice (discontinued).
- 10 credits overlap with SUM4000 – Development and environment: Theory and policy challenges (discontinued).
- 10 credits overlap with SUM3001 – Development and Environment: Theory and Policy Challenges (discontinued).
Teaching
The course is organized as a series of teaching units. Classes take a hybrid form, combining a lecture format with group discussions, exercises, presentations, etc. A textlab series is integrated into the course, where we will train advanced academic skills, from literature searches, to logging, to writing and presenting, all while working with assignments for the portfolio.
On average there will be three sessions of teaching per week, normally on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All classes are compulsory.
Access to teaching
A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.
Examination
2019 - : This course uses a portfolio assessment. During the course, students will be given approximately 6 writing assignments, of various (ascending) length and complexity, to submit to the portfolio. The lecturers will give each student feedback on each assignment. A revised, final, version of the portfolio is due a few days after the last teaching unit, and is assessed based on the guidelines in the assessment guide.
2017 - 2018: 3 days home exam. In addition, each block will conclude with a one-day online test, which will be graded pass/fail.
2018 exam questions and assessment guide
2014 - 2016: Portfolio assessment: Every third week the students are to submit a short paper (4-5 pages excluding references, Times New Roman font size 12 and with 1.5 line spacing), in which they will get feedback on in order to improve the following submission. Throughout the semester, the students are to submit five short papers that together constitute the Portfolio.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.