Rachel Carson Center

Streets make cities and cities make streets. They are central to human culture; public (and private) life occurs on them. Streets enable transportation, commerce, and communication of various kinds. They are the product of wayfaring as well as planning. They have developed out of ancient human trails as well as designs for absolutist rulers and democratic municipalities. They are used for ostentatious representations of political power and control as well as for rallies organized by bottom-up movements and protest; and they are sites of oppression and bloody wars on the one hand, and of freedom and peaceful revolutions on the other. Streets have been built to open and forge connections, and they have been used as boundaries and instruments of urban renewal destroying neighborhoods and displacing their residents. Streets are predominantly made for movement of various kinds. These have changed with time and technological development, and on occasion one form of movement has been favored over another. In this seminar we will explore what a street is; why, how, by whom, and for whom streets are built; who uses streets and how; who manages and takes care of them; what select streets smell and sound like; and how streets are represented in various media.

This seminar traces the long-lasting and severe impact of dams in American history and culture – storing water behind earthen and concrete walls has served to produce energy, to protect against flooding and to “conserve” water for agricultural and urban demands. In the process of dam construction, entire villages have been flooded (and sometimes reappeared) and its inhabitants displaced. Also, the creation of dams, and in particular big dams, often came at the cost of devastating environmental consequences. More recently, environmentalists have argued for the removal of dams, in some cases successfully.

For a long time, nature and the city were considered diametrically opposed. Whereas the natural environment seemed to exist in and by itself, the city was a symbol of human creation and creativity – a second nature, a built environment. Even in disciplines explicitly concerned with the relationship between environment and society (such as environmental history), the city had to fight for its place. This view has changed fundamentally. In this seminar, we will explore the manifold interconnections between nature, culture and society in urban environments. This includes, for example, the different transformations of urban space and urban landscapes, the role of animals in the city, the significance of rivers and the importance of natural hazards, but also questions of waste and recycling, urban mobility, pollution and the significance of parks.

This joint multidisciplinary seminar is open to students from LMU and TUM. It offers an opportunity for students in the humanities as well as in the applied design and engineering disciplines at TUM and LMU to come together and discuss how green technologies, innovative infrastructures, and new lifestyles can contribute to new economic patterns and philosophies that seek to prevent extractive practices and slow down environmental destruction.
We will explore some of the key terms employed in discussions related to the sustainable transformation of our built environment. What do “degrowth,” “resilience,” “sufficiency,” and “sustainability” describe and mean (and in which context), and how are they applied to the built environment? How do ideas of degrowth, resilience, sufficiency, and sustainability become manifest in the built environment? What are historic precedents, and what might future developments of sufficient urban living look like?
To address these questions, students will be asked to identify a particular material, object, or organism (e.g., a particular type of mineral, metal, brick, plastic, paper, wood, plant, animal, …) which they will explore throughout the semester. While texts on the developmental paradigms will provide our overall framework, texts on material culture will give examples for thinking with and about the materials, objects, and organisms we use to shape and build our urban environments. Seminar discussions of these accompanying texts will alternate with course lectures, student presentations, and field trips.

This course provides an overview of key issues, themes, and debates within Environment and Society along with their historical background. It presents and familiarizes students with relevant terms and approaches in the environmental humanities, and with different theories pertaining to the relationship between humans and their environment. It takes into account local and global contexts.

Students acquire foundational knowledge in theories about the relationship between humans and their environment. Students develop the ability to critically scrutinize and assess terms and concepts from relevant disciplines, and to evaluate their historical backgrounds, as well as their implications and visions for the future. Students learn to establish connections between disciplines and to develop multi-/inter-/transdisciplinary perspectives.

Course description:

The Lunchtime Colloquium series consists of short, 20–30 minute presentations by RCC fellows. The talks are based on the fellow's own research. Designed to stimulate discussion, the presentations are accessible and are aimed at a non-specialist audience. All talks are free and open to the public. The talks may be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students, or to anyone with an interest in environmental issues.

The Reading Course makes up the second part of the basic mandatory module of the Certificate Program. It is designed to give an overview and serve as an introduction to the different fields and disciplines related to Environmental Studies. Students must attend this course over two semesters and are welcome to actively shape both structure and content. Lively discussions are the core of the course, based on weekly presentations by the course participants.