DI4944 Ecotheology and the Arts

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

Thursday 14:00-17:00

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr G R Hopps

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr G Hopps

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This interdisciplinary module will explore the ways in which theology & the arts might respond to the current environmental crisis. The first half will provide an overview of theological and scriptural engagements with ecological concerns and will relate these, on the one hand, to traditional models of ‘natural theology’ and, on the other hand, to the contemporary rethinking of matter, vitality, agency and affect, as prompted by movements such as ‘new materialism’ and ‘the nonhuman turn’. The second half will focus attention on the imagination as a technology for venturing beyond the given that allows us to ‘try on’ alternative ways of inhabiting the world. However, it will also allow students to consider the value from an ecotheological perspective of different art-forms (such as Romantic poetry, nature writing, horror and animated film) that reconfigure ‘the landscape of the living’ and invite us to envisage apocalyptic scenarios or adopt empathic postures towards nonhuman others.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS DI2010 AND PASS DI2006

Anti-requisites

YOU CANNOT TAKE THIS MODULE IF YOU TAKE DI3717 OR PASS DI3717

Assessment pattern

50% examination and 50% coursework

Re-assessment

100% examination

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 seminar (x 11 weeks)

Intended learning outcomes

  • By the end of the module, students will be able to: * demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the current environmental crisis;
  • * describe and critically evaluate some of the key ways in which theology has been used and could be used to address ecological issues;
  • * explain the ways in which engagement with the arts may contribute to a more ‘ecocentric’ orientation;
  • * develop and sustain an argument in a scholarly fashion, and respond appropriately to critical feedback;
  • * engage more confidently in independent interdisciplinary research.