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Communications and the Climate Crisis

Module description

The climate crisis is one of the defining issues of our era, threatening the future viability of human life on planet Earth. This module critically examines the media’s role in framing the parameters of climate change debates and how it represents visions of the natural world. It also interrogates some of the ways that the communications technologies and the media industries contribute to the climate crisis themselves, in terms of carbon footprints and digital (un)sustainability. Topics may include mapping the history of environmental awareness, the impact of digital technologies on the natural world, fictional and non-fictional stories about environmentalism, celebrity activism, and exploring a range of critical approaches to thinking about the climate crisis.

No specialist knowledge, skills, or experience are required to take this module. It is suitable for all students in Humanities and on interdisciplinary pathways.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to give you an excellent knowledge and critical understanding of the roles that communication technologies play in narrating and representing the climate crisis as well as the ways they materially contribute to the crisis. Topics explored may include: the origins and historical development of the discourse of climate crisis; the environmental impact of digital infrastructure; mainstream news media reporting on climate breakdown; environmental documentaries; fictional representations of climate crisis and environmentalism in cinema, literature, and on social media platforms; critical theories of the environment, including eco-Leninism and liberal accounts that focus on the habits of individuals; and environmentalism and celebrity.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge and critical understanding of key aspects of the rise of climate crisis discourse.
• 2. Relate developments in communications technologies to broader historical forces and contexts.
• 3. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the relevant scholarly literature on communication technologies and climate crisis.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Analyse key developments in communication technology and communication research on climate change.
• 5. Exercise sound judgement in researching, collecting, and interpreting information from a range of appropriate primary and secondary sources.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Demonstrate skills in critical thinking and building a coherent argument in a video/visual essay.
• 7. Question assumptions, to distinguish between fact and opinion, and to critically reflect your own learning process.

Syllabus plan

The module will take a thematic approach to the study of media and communication texts and technologies in relation to the climate crisis. Topics covered might include: the historical rise of climate crisis discourse; the environmental impact of digital communication technologies; news media and climate crisis reportage; fictional representations of climate crisis and environmentalism; documentary film and climate crisis; climate crisis and ideology; celebrity activism; activist celebrities; critical theories of the environment.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Born, D. (2019) Bearing Witness? Polar Bears as Icons for Climate Change Communication in National Geographic. Environmental Communication, 13(5): 649-663.
• Brockington, D. (2013) Celebrity and the Environment. London: Zed.
• Carruth, A. (2014) The Digital Cloud and the Micropolitics of Energy. Public Culture, 26(2): 339-364.
• Cosgrove, D. (2008) Images and Imagination in 20th-Century Environmentalism: From the Sierras to the Poles. Environment and Planning A, 40: 1862-1880.
• Cubitt, S., Hassan, R. and Volkmer, I. (2011) Does Cloud Computing Have A Silver Lining? Media, Culture & Society, 33(1): 149-148.
• Dawson, A. (2017) Extreme Cities: The Peril and Promise of Urban Life in the Age of Climate Change. London: Verso.
• Gabrys, J. (2013) Digital rubbish: A natural history of electronics. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
• Hansen, A. and Cox, R. (2015) The Routledge Handbook of Environment and Communication. London and New York: Routledge.
• Hansen, A. (2018) Environment, Media and Communication. London: Routledge.
• Hayes, S. and O'Neill, S. (2021) The Greta Effect: Visualising Climate Protest in UK Media and the Getty Images Collections. Global Environmental Change, 71(102392): 1-11.
• Kääpä, P. and Vaughan, H. (2022) Film and Television Production in the Age of Climate Crisis: Towards a Greener Screen. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Klein, N. (2015) This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. London: Penguin
• Lewis, S. and Maslin, M. (2018) The Human Planet: How We Created the Anthropocene. London: Penguin
• Malm, A. (2016) Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming. London: Verso.
• Manzo, K. (2010) Imaging vulnerability: The iconography of climate change. Area, 42(1), 96–107.
• Marks, L.U. (2020) Let's Deal with the Carbon Footprint of Streaming Media. Afterimage, 47(2): 46-52.
• Masco, J. (2018) The Six Extinctions: Visualizing Planetary Ecological Crisis Today. After Extinction. Edited by Richard Grunion. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 71-106.
• Miller, T. (2018) Greenwashing Culture, Abingdon: Routledge.
• O’Neill, S. (2013). Image matters: Climate change imagery in US, UK and Australian newspapers. Geoforum, 49, 10–19.
• Pink, S., Abram, S., Ortar, N. and Waltorp, K, eds. (2023) Energy Futures: Anthropocene Challenges, Emerging Technologies and Everyday Life. Berlin: De Gruyter.
• Rodgers, H. (2013) Green Gone Wrong: Dispatches From the Front Lines of Eco-Capitalism. London: Verso
• Uhlin, G. (2016) Sustainable Filmmaking: Understanding Image as Resource. Teaching Media Quarterly, 4(3): 1-11.

Journals:

• Environmental Communication
• Media + Environment
• Journal of Environmental Media

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages

Key words search

Communications, climate, media, energy, infrastructure, digital, film, crisis, environment, Capitalism, Green, celebrity