Photograph by the Guardian Design Team (2019), https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2019/jun/10/the-anthropocene-…

The Centre is strongly invested in research-led teaching. In 2025, we offer two courses in the School of History.

History 2211: Global Environmental History since 1945 (Offered in Semester Two)

In this course, we examine the profound transformation of the relationship between humans and the environment that has unfolded exponentially since 1945. Through a series of case studies and stories we will examine how the human footprint has grown, and its socioeconomic, political, and ecological impacts. This unit is organised both chronologically and thematically, allowing students to explore agricultural, industrial and technological revolutions; energy and technology; development and decolonisation; disease; capitalism; urbanisation; conservation and environmentalism; and anthropogenic climate change.

This unit offers an historical perspective on our modern environmental condition through an examination of the changing interactions between people and our planet. It explores the influences on human dealings with the natural world, the ways that humans have changed the natural world, and how humans have responded to environmental change.

History 3012: Climate and Capital (Topics in History) (offered in Semester One)

Climate and Capital: A History, is an advanced undergraduate course designed to familiarise students with the intertwined history of capitalism and climate change. We start conceptually, by exploring definitions of "Capital," "Capitalism" "Climate Change" and "Anthropocene" before investigating specific themes the illustrate how the process of capital accumulation has and has not been connected to climate change. But anthropogenic climate change is not exclusive to the capitalist mode of production. A portion of the course is also dedicated to understanding how industrial development in the socialist and communist world or through state activities has culminated in climate change.