Background and aims

The environment as an issue has received increasing public attention and attracted great controversy in recent decades, and a number of undergraduate environmental programmes have been launched. The majority of these are science-based. The Kent programme is social science-based and addresses the economic, political and social forces which shape environmental policy and practice. The programme draws on the disciplines at Kent which have taken a leading part in research and teaching in the environmental field: anthropology, economics, law, sociology, and social and public policy.

The programme will:

• Give you a firm grounding in the range of social scientific perspectives on environmental issues.
• Give you a critical understanding of the forces affecting the definition of environmental problems and the making and implementation of environmental policy
• Help you be aware of the environmental effects of the ‘normal’ functioning of economic, political and social institutions, and
• Encourage you to apply your understanding, e.g in the evaluation of new environmental policies and practices
• Combine your interest in the environment with a disciplinary specialization in preparation for future careers in the public service, the professions, industry or the voluntary sector

The programme will explain:

• How a concern with the environment emerged
• main local, national and international actors affecting the state of the environment
• the different conceptions of the environment present in current discourse and how they affect environmental policy and practice, and
• the analytical approaches to the environment taken by specific social science disciplines

It will enable you to

• take a critical stance to current debates around environmental issues, and
• be able to translate theoretical ideas into practical solutions and anticipate the support and opposition they will encounter

Modules

Stage 1

You will take one compulsory two-unit module:

• Environmental issues: social science approaches

And three optional two-unit modules from the Faculty list. It is recommended that at least two of these three are chosen from among the following:

• Economics

• Introduction to Social Anthropology

• Social Problems and Social Policy Sociology

• The Study of Politics and Government

The compulsory module introduces you to the range of perspectives available on the environment, and the optional modules ensure that you have an introduction to at least two of the most relevant social science disciplines.

Stage 2 and 3

You will take one compulsory one unit module:

• Environmental policy and practice

twelve units from the list below (all are two unit modules unless indicated):

• Environmental Politics - One Unit (Highly recommended)
• Ecology, evolution and society
• Economic development (third year)
• Environmental economics
• Environmental law
• Environmental social science dissertation (third year)
• Research practices in sociology (normally in second year)
• Sociological and anthropological approaches to development
• The city
• The social politics of food
• Underdevelopment and development; the third world
• Urban sociology

and a further two units from any module offered in the Faculty.

The compulsory and highly recommended Part II modules will provide you with a broad understanding of the main theoretical and policy debates related to the environment. The remaining modules will allow you to pursue interests in specialized aspects of the environment or in specialized disciplines. The Research practices module is suitable for those wanting to undertake research and the Dissertation gives a chance to those who want to undertake an in-depth study of a particular issue.

Assessment

There is currently no information on assessment.

Teaching

There is currently no information on teaching.