Natures Cultures module (PI31025)

• Level 3
• Philosophy

This module is for anybody interested in nature, culture and their entanglement. Western Philosophy often appeal to culture as something that separates human beings from the rest of nature, but today the lines between nature and culture, biology and technology are increasingly difficult to draw. Through a combination of interactive seminars and tutorials this module will engage critically and creatively with a range of different philosophers, artists and environmental humanities researchers. In the process we will explore questions such as - is culture uniquely human, or are there other-than-human kinds of agency, technology, language, community and artistic expression? Is nature something fixed and determined, or open and creative? Is science something we sometimes need to feel and imagine, as well as test and learn? How should we rethink ourselves and our relations in response to pollution, disease, ecological instability and climate change? What new concepts, collaborations and modes of creative practice can help us better attend to these entanglements?

The assessed components on this module are:

• Weekly class exercise (20%)
• Essay (3000 words) OR Practical Project with accompanying scholarly reflection (2,000 words) (80%)

Students will read a selection of texts influential in recent philosophy of science, by thinkers such as: Plato, Aristotle, Charles Darwin, Jacob von Uexküll, Georges Canguilhem, Gregory Bateson, Isabelle Stengers, Giorgio Agamben, Donna Haraway, Elizabeth Grosz, Karen Barad, and Elizabeth A. Wilson, Vinciene Despret, Jane Bennet, Wendy Wheeler and Catherine Malabou, and will explore the work of artists engaging with science such as: Isabella Rossellini, Oron Catts, Aura Satz and Patricia Piccinini.