The Anthropocene is the time in which humanity has a greater influence and impact on our planet than all natural forces combined. Itself a contested term, the Anthropocene has been used not only to designate a geological epoch, but also as a means of framing a number of significant environmental, social, and cultural challenges that this period has brought with it. In this short course, you will draw on a number of disciplinary perspectives to open up problems that attend the Anthropocene, both conceptually and as a marker for more complex and urgent material/ real-world impacts that humans continue to shape and encounter. The impact of humans on Earth measured and experienced in what is commonly referred to as the Anthropocene, brings us the questions: how and to what extent has human impact surpassed that of natural forces? How do we imagine and envision the Anthropocene? What are its experiential dimensions? What are the problems relating to the Anthropocene?

In this short course Big Questions in the Anthropocene, you will critically evaluate your relationship with the planet and study new ways and the cultures and practices that it sustains. Together, we will explore questions such as: how do our economies impact waste disposal and energy sources? In addition, we will examine technological innovations, debate ethical issues, and perform social analyses. As we interrogate the idea of the Anthropocene, we will also discuss and challenge related concepts and oppositions. These include the presumptive binary division between ‘nature’ and ‘humankind’; the myth of human domination over nature; and naturalized conceptualizations of time and history.

To tackle these questions, the short course is divided into three main sections, introduction, discussion and solutions/navigation tools, with interactive teaching, in-class assignments as well as a take-home Big Question message.