Spring 2027

Global Environmental History

Global Environmental History explores human-environment relationships from early civilizations to 20th-century tech, offering historiographical research and web writing training.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

What you’ll be able to do

  • Define “the Anthropocene” and evaluate different approaches for dating and naming this new “human age”

  • Analyze the intersections of multiple historical socio-natural processes— such as extraction, colonialism, racism, capitalism, agriculture, industrialization, and modernization—to explain the production of uneven development and environmental crises

  • Document and analyze aspects of modern life that will be “modern fossils” in the distant future

  • Explain the importance of historical analysis for understanding contemporary environmental problems

  • Apply historical methods to analyze how a material object of their choice illustrates a particular interpretation of the Anthropocene

  • Assess significant works in the historiography of global environmental history and interdisciplinary Anthropocene studies

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

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Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing or 3 credits in HISTORY, GEOG or ENVIR ST

    • Sophomore standing
    • 3 credits in HISTORY, GEOG or ENVIR ST
    take one
ENVIRST/HISTORY 465

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Any of
    • Sophomore standing
    • 3 credits in HISTORY, GEOG or ENVIR ST

Professors

Spring 2027

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Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

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Student experience

the class

Explores the history of human relationships with the environment on a global scale through analysis of long-term changes, from early civilizations, to the beginnings of global trade, the Industrial Revolution, urbanization, and 20th century technological developments. Offers first-hand historiographical research experience and training in writing for public web audiences.

difficulty & workload

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Topics

  • History of human relationships with the environment
  • Long-term changes including early civilizations, global trade, Industrial Revolution, urbanization, and technology
  • The Anthropocene and its dating/naming
  • Historiography of global environmental history and Anthropocene studies

Skills

  • Historiographical research and writing for public web audiences
  • Analyzing intersections of historical socio-natural processes to explain environmental crises
  • Applying historical methods to analyze material objects in relation to the Anthropocene
  • Defining and evaluating approaches to dating and naming the Anthropocene

Grades

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Sources & history

UW–Madison

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

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Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "2878706e5ddebef864f4ab54fc0181ad6b37f51f3f6e6bdcea873f4ce10dcd03",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}