Description

 University of Liverpool

Climate Change and Society (Soci 258) 

Module Handbook 2024

Module Leader:         Dr Matthew Kearney

Introduction

Module Aims

Climate Change and Society (Soci 258) seeks to equip students with social scientific concepts and frames of reference relevant to understanding the climate relevance of contemporary events and expected future events.

Module Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of Soci 258,

• Students will be able to identify current disruptions that scientists link to climate and the expected acceleration of these trends in the future.
• Students will be able to articulate some of the major risks to society and ecosystem posed by a heating planet.
• Students will be able to apply core concepts from political economy to the climate crisis.
• Students will be able to apply core concepts from sociology of domestic and global inequalities to the observed and expected impacts of the climate crisis (e.g. intersectional inequality in industrialized countries, global distribution of wealth, evacuation plans or lack thereof for island nations).
• Students will be able to demonstrate an awareness of the relevance of criminology for understanding the climate crisis and of criminological approaches to mitigating its impact.

ASSESSMENTS

It is your responsibility to make sure that you know exactly what is required for the assessments for this module! There are two. Further assessment guidance will be provided during class meetings.

Climate Memo Due 2 p.m. on November 12, 2024. Write a focused reflection on a social or criminological effect of the climate crisis. Cite and support all information. Bibliography and references do not count toward the word limit. This memorandum is worth 10 percent of your final grade, assessed on a pass/fail basis. The word count limit is 500-600 words, give or take 10 percent. But if it’s only 450, make it insightful.

The purpose of this low-stakes open-ended assignment is to give you an occasion to think through the issues at stake, and to write a little.

Final Essay Due 2 p.m. on 15 January 2024. Obviously you can, and should, submit earlier if you are finished earlier. This essay is worth 90 percent of your mark on the module. Word limit is 1,800 words, plus or minus 10 percent. For either essay topic, have an overall thesis. It’s usually wise to state that thesis in plain direct terms near the beginning of the essay and a minimum of one more time near the end. Write an essay on ONE of the following two areas:

1. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of one or two forms of climate activism. Do not take on more than two. ‘Activism’ here can be anything that anyone might label as such—if in doubt, consult the Module Leader. Reference both required readings and non-required sources.
2. Choose a form of social disruption that the climate crisis is expected to cause or is already causing. Explain why the climate crisis is causing it, or will cause it. Then apply a sociological or criminological perspective to that disruption.

 

Referencing

You are expected to reference all the sources you have consulted when preparing your coursework and to do so correctly and rigorously. The Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology uses the Harvard Cite Them Right system of referencing. Further information about Harvard referencing can be found on the library website: libguides.liverpool.ac.uk/referencing/harvard

 

Formatting and other presentation guidelines

• Use of artificial intelligence to write any portion of the assessment essay is not acceptable and will incur academic integrity penalties.
• If you believe that limited use of artificial intelligence is relevant to completing this essay, consult with the Module Leader before doing so to avoid any potential academic integrity violations. Asking questions about this technology will not lead to an academic integrity case, but inappropriately using it will.
• Check your work for grammatical and spelling errors before submission.
• Include page numbers.
• Use a font size no smaller than 12 point.
• Use double-line spacing or 1.5 spacing.

• Include your student ID in the header of your paper, not your name.
• Check the references in the body of your work and include a complete bibliography alphabetized by author’s last name at the end.
• The word limit does not include your bibliography in this module.

 

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