Environmental Studies

This course explores the impact that the complex relationship between humans and nature has on climate and biodiversity. It discusses the historical evolution of humanity's approach to nature and those representations in Latin American literature. It focuses on the cultural/environmental implications of extractivism, histories of land use, the social impact of economy on bodies and the biosphere, the political use of nature, non-human/human relations, the emergence of Latin American environmental thinking, ecocriticism, modern Latin American literature, and some of the most important political and cultural debates of the continent in recent history. 

This course focuses on rural landscape management with emphasis on ends, means, and solutions in management and planning projects. The course consists of two parts: an introduction and a problem-based project. The introductory part of the course includes lectures, exercises, and seminars on landscape processes and functions as well as methods for analyzing landscapes and collecting data relevant to planning and management of rural landscapes. Topics include: analyses of cultural landscapes and their current changes and implication for landscape policy, planning, and management; farmers' and other stakeholders' values and practices in relation to land use, cultural heritage, nature conservation, and aesthetic values; spatial planning and the design and implementation of spatial plans in relation to conflict management and place-making; case study approach and relevant research methods. Students are expected to contribute substantially to the seminars in the introductory part by presenting relevant methods and literature as well as preliminary ideas for projects. The project part of the course is the main part of the course and starts with a visit to a Danish municipality to show practical landscape management and planning tasks and challenges that are found in the municipality. Students then form project groups and propose a project problem to be approved.

This course analyzes clues to major environmental issues that the world faces today. First, it studies the basic process and mechanism of the natural environment and how living organisms adapt to the environment. Secondly, the course teaches the role of semi-natural disturbances on biodiversity conservation. Traditional agricultural practices in Japanese Satoyama and agro-forestry in Indonesia provide some good examples of where people receive natural resources and ecosystem services locally and how energy is flowing in cycle, as well as providing habitat for native species. Such balanced interaction in turn can function as a resilient ecosystem. This concept is called the Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR). Thirdly, the course studies the impacts of recent human activities such as overexploitation of natural resources, industrialization, intensive agriculture and globalization, on ecosystems, wildlife and as well as on our health and safety. Topics include environmental carrying capacity, chemical pollution and bioaccumulation, soil erosion, global warming, climate change, endangered species, aging society and under-use of local resources problem, impacts of invasive species and genetically modified organisms (GMO), and how they are complexly interrelated. Last, the course discusses issues on alternative power/renewable energy usage, such as biomass and geothermal power generation. 

The course explores healthy and valuable soil systems, focusing on the soil microbiome, carbon sequestration, water retention, and sustainable production. It examines the biological, chemical, and physical aspects of soil and emphasizes strategies for soil regeneration.

This course examines the ongoing global challenge of anthropogenic climate change and the science/data behind it, as well as local, regional and international policy in response. Students study the fundamental science of climate and why it is changing. They investigate climate change drivers and their synergies mechanistically and empirically. Students apply scientific theory and supporting evidence to analyze links between climate change and environmental changes, including changes to major biogeochemical cycles, fire intensity/frequency, species loss, sea level rise and more. Students also explore adaptation and mitigation of climate change in a cross-cultural context.

This course examines the fundamentals of climate and climate change science, reviews the history of climate change action internationally and in Australia, and outlines the current and projected state of climate change and climate change action. It explores the impetus and options for climate change action, the intersection of climate change and sustainable global development, and why, despite the increasing urgency, international and domestic climate action is often limited.

This course is structured as a research project in which samples are collected, investigated using various analytical methods, processed using statistical methods, and compared to other studies. The focus lies on abrupt climate changes and the role of ocean circulation during the last ~50 thousand years in the North Atlantic region. The course takes a hands-on approach, using marine sedimentary archives as the basis for reconstructing past climate and environmental conditions. Through weekly theoretical lectures accompanied by extensive practical work in groups (field excursion, laboratory analyses, presentations and data processing), the subject progresses and culminates in an individual written report as course exam.

From an ecocritical approach, this course explores the ways in which literature and culture represent, and interact with, the natural world, ecological consciousness, and social transformation. It examines how these issues and concerns are reflected in literary texts. This course also discusses a variety of critical approaches and literary responses to the period commonly referred to as the Anthropocence/Capitalocene, considering how literature can become a tool to promote environmental sustainability, multispecies dialogues, and social justice.

This course analyzes how whales and the practice of whaling is portrayed across a variety of film and print sources by Japanese and foreign directors and authors.  In Japan, whale meat is still available in restaurants and supermarkets, and while national whale consumption is falling, the majority of the Japanese public supports the country's whaling industry. In contrast, the idea of hunting whales or consuming them is anathema to much of the western world, where whales have in recent decades become a symbol of the environmental movement. The techniques and ideas utilized in the course aims to help students form educated opinions about whaling issues, and serve as for examining other controversial issues in the future.

This course critically explores principal drivers behind the erosion of natural capital and resilience of ecosystems in light of them. Students take a solutions-based approach for how best to deal with habitat transformation, biodiversity loss, climate change, overexploitation of natural resources and contamination. Solutions incorporate a biological understanding of local and global impacts, drawing from the physical and life sciences, and extend it to actual and potential political, economic, and socio-cultural instruments appropriate and effective to address threats and changes to global biodiversity and ecosystem health.