This module is a companion to HUMA4000 The Home as it explores complementary ideas and concepts of the relationship between the home and the wild. They can be taken individually or together.
In this module we interrogate notions of the wild, how human relationship with the wild is encoded deep into the cultural matrix, how the wild is perceived as beyond the borders of the home, the domestic and the domesticated. We follow the fault-lines between the tame and the wild, landscape and wilderness, the human and the natural, wildness and wasteland. We explore diverse linguistic pathways of the wild, its roots in the old Teutonic walthus, forest, its associated terms of sylvan, savage, feral, and beastly. We explore the tension at the heart of colonialism between the civilised and the savage, civilisation and barbarism, and the long shadow cast by this dichotomy over culture, geopolitics and the environment.
We explore contemporary notions of Wilding and Rewilding, which, although growing from the disciplines of conservation, ecology, environmentalism and environmental management, are of great importance to the many disciplines of Arts and Humanities: languages, texts, performing and visual arts, architecture and urban planning, poetics, and culture. We trace the tangled borders between discourses, exploring how dynamics of wilding may operate to increase connectivity between disciplinary fields and enrich the educational experience.
We consider the Wild in relation to the crises of the present. We pay particular attention to the fear of the Wild and the destruction of the Wild as operational factors in the creation of crisis. We discuss the Wild and projects of Wilding as strategies of hope for fostering resilience in the face of crisis.
Private Study: 130
Contact Hours: 20
Total: 150
The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices.
The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages: https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html
8. The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Engage with multiple and complex meanings of the term Wild, Wildness, Wilderness, Wilding and Rewilding;
2 Demonstrate an understanding of various disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches across the arts and humanities to concepts of the wild;
3 Demonstrate an awareness for the ways in which interdisciplinary thinking expands and deepens our understanding and appreciation of cultural phenomena in relation to notions of the wild;
4 Think critically about the meaning of the wild from historical, contemporary, interdisciplinary and transcultural perspectives, and communicate ideas to an audience.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Analyse cultural phenomena as appropriate, using up-to-date theoretical frameworks and relating works to the relevant socio-historical context;
2 Use a range of established techniques to carry out independent analysis and research on cultural phenomena and present their findings;
3 Demonstrate critical thinking skills;
4 Undertake independent research in the library, using appropriate academic databases online;
5 Synthesise and evaluate information from a number of sources, deploying key techniques from their own and neighbouring disciplines.
Main assessment methods
Public engagement project (1,000 word equivalent) 40%
Essay (2,000 words) 60%
Reassessment methods
100% coursework (2,000 words essay)
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