The Sixth Mass Extinction (ECS320)
Course description for study year 2025-2026. Please note that changes may occur.
Course code
ECS320
Version
1
Credits (ECTS)
5
Semester tution start
Autumn
Number of semesters
1
Exam semester
Autumn
Language of instruction
English
Content
We are living through a period of rapid global extinction, called the Sixth Mass Extinction. Animals like the great auk, Tasmanian tiger, and passenger pigeon have all become recently extinct. This course will offer an interdisciplinary examination of extinction in the last 300 years. How did scientists first discover that species could become extinct? How uncertain are extinctions? How are extinction histories told in museum exhibitions? How do cultures engage with extinction in literature, film, and art? How are nature conservation projects trying to avert extinction?
The course will be taught online in a flexible and innovative format to allow students to engage with extinction through multimedia sources.
This course will be valuable for all students as they face a world undergoing environmental change. It will give students tools to understand the cultural context of past, present and future extinctions. Students from all backgrounds—sciences, engineering, humanities, education, and arts—are welcome to take the course.
Learning outcome
Knowledge:
- has knowledge about the theories, processes, and methods for investigating extinction
- has knowledge about how extinction has historically been conceptualized
- has knowledge about the cultural responses to extinction
Skills:
- can reflect over extinction as a modern phenomenon
- can find, evaluate, and write about information on cultural engagements with extinction
- can find, evaluate, and use internet resources in a scientifically acceptable way
- can reflect over extinction using interdisciplinary methods
General competence:
- can present central scientific concepts in written form
- can develop ideas independently and participate in online discussions with others about interdisciplinary issues
- can plan and complete compulsory activities on time
Required prerequisite knowledge
Exam
Home exam
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The five thematic mandatory assignments will serve as the final examination. These assignments will vary and challenge students in different types of engagements. Each assignment will demand an effort equivalent to 500 words, and can include video, audio, annotated maps, or other formats. All assignments must be submitted and approved in order to pass. Students will have two weeks to complete each one. The students will be given another opportunity to submit if their work is not approved or if they submit a blank response. All assignments will carry equal weight.
Coursework requirements
Students must complete the five compulsory activities (one for each module). The due dates for these will be spread over the semester. These will be submitted via the Canvas page for the course.
All five mandatory assignments must be completed. The five thematic mandatory assignments will serve as the final examination.
Course teacher(s)
Course coordinator:
Dolly JørgensenMethod of work
The course is taught completely online as an asynchronous course. There are five modules within the course, each with videos, readings, and activities to engage with the topic of extinction. All of these materials will be available online. The format allows for a high degree of self-directed progression through the course activities.
Course materials: Video lectures, journal articles, book chapters, internet resources