Type:Module/Course/Examination
Language:English
ECTS-Credits:3.0
Scheduled in semester:1-6
Semester Hours per Week / Contact Hours:28.0 L / 21.0 h
Self-directed study time:69.0 h
Module coordination/Lecturers
- Dr. Monika Litscher
(Modulleitung)
Curricula
Bachelor's degree programme in Business Administration (01.09.2012)Master's degree programme in Architecture (01.09.2014)
Bachelor's degree programme in Architecture (01.09.2014)
Master's degree programme in Information Systems (01.09.2015)
Master's degree programme in Finance (01.09.2015)
Master's degree programme in Entrepreneurship (01.09.2015)
Master's degree programme in Entrepreneurship and Management (01.09.2018)
Events
Description
Nature conservation has emerged as one of the most powerful globalised paradigms of the present time. Nature conservation projects are almost always represented as win-win situations beneficial to both nature and humans. Critical reflection is extremely rare.
However, from the perspective of local populations especially in the Global South, nature conservation projects are often connected with an array of highly problematic aspects: their participation in decision-making processes is marginal, farmers lose their land without proper compensation, some have ended up behind prison bars, and cultural values are rarely recognised and respected.
The seminar sheds light on ethical and political issues surrounding nature conservation in the Global South from a social anthropological perspective. We discuss these issues on the basis of studies from different disciplines (especially social anthropology and political science, but also history, agroforestry and paleo-ecology) while always focusing on the perspective and situation of the directly affected people. We investigate in detail the case of Madagascar, a country which has since the 1980s been at the forefront of international conservation efforts.
Learning Outcomes
- Students learn to critically reflect the dominant nature conservation paradigm.
- Students learn to look at the nature conservation paradigm from the point of view of farmers in Madagascar.
- Students are familiar with the contribution that qualitative social science research (especially social anthropology) can make to pressing contemporary global issues, such as nature conservation.
Qualifications
Lectures Method
- Mixture of inputs by the lecturer and of interactive learning workshops conceptualised and prepared by working groups.
Literature
Reading list will be provided on moodle.
1 compulsory text per topic (2-3 texts of approx. 15-20 pages in preparation of each Saturday session)
Working groups: Additional literature on the relevant topic.
Exam Modalities
Assessment tasks:
Part A: (50%) Participation in 2 working groups.
Part B: (50%) Writing of Abstracts, Summaries and Proceedings.
Compulsory attendance (min. 80%)
Assessment
Passed / Failed
- Course based on continuous assessment, details see under "assessment".
- Meeting attendance obligations and active participation are an essential pre-requisite for successfully completing a course based on continuous assessment.
- Attendance must be proven for at least 80% of the stipulated contact time. Responsibility for checking and providing written proof of this obligatory attendance lies with the course lecturer who is required to store this information at least until the end of the semester.
- In the case of absenteeism that exceeds the specified limits of absence, a medical certificate is required. Responsibility lies with the head of the Coordination Office for Cross-Faculty Elective Subjects to approve the reason for the student's failure to attend.
- Participation in other activities of the university are not recognized as an excused absence.
Comments
Cross-faculty elective subject:
Notice the special Multi-stage allocation process.
Exams
- P-FU_Nature Conservation in Madagascar: Perspectives on Culture, Power Relations and Green Grabbing (WS 18/19, in Planung)