Unit rationale, description and aim

This unit explores some of the interconnected aspects of the current ecological or environmental crisis, such as mass-extinction of species, air pollution, the depletion of clean water, deforestation and desertification, and climate change. It explores ways in which such environmental damage is linked to unjust human conduct that exploits and impoverishes individuals and communities, entrenches inequality, and impedes First Nations’ ability to care for creation. Following the lead of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’, a variety of perspectives will be considered, including theological perspectives, scientific data, environmental philosophy, and theologies of creation. The notion of “integral ecology” will come to the fore, noting the interconnectedness of all things and the priority of acting justly in defense of the dignity of living beings on our planet. Students are challenged to consider how to assess matters such as individual and corporate responsibility for ecological harms, the relative responsibility of highly versus less industrialised regions, and what a just carbon transition might look like. The unit aims to provide students with an enhanced understanding of the present ecological crisis, and how theological responses such as integral ecology can contribute towards a more just and sustainable future. This unit is available within ACU's Core Curriculum.

2026 10

Campus offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

PHCC320 The Just Society , UNCC300 Justice and Change in a Global World , PHIL320 Ethics, Justice and the Good Society , PHCC201 The Origins of the Sciences and Contemporary Challenges , TPCC202 Conflict, Violence and Peace-making , THCC200 Justice in the World: Catholic Social Ethics in Global Perspective , THCC202 Sacred Land: Australian Indigenous Spiritualities and Catholic Thought

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Explain key problems and root causes of ecological...

Learning Outcome 01

Explain key problems and root causes of ecological injustice.
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC6, GC7

Critically analyse selected debates in the field, ...

Learning Outcome 02

Critically analyse selected debates in the field, especially integral ecology, and develop consistent positions and responses in relation to them.
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC7, GC8

Apply key insights, especially from integral ecolo...

Learning Outcome 03

Apply key insights, especially from integral ecology, to respond to pressing ecological problems.
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC5, GC6, GC7, GC8

Content

Topics may include:

  • Foundational understanding and skills in critical analysis and argumentation.
  • Root causes of the ecological crisis.
  • Features of the ecological crisis: e.g., biodiversity loss, pollution, depletion of clean water, deforestation, and climate change.
  • Socio-economic causes and impacts of ecological destruction.
  • Impediments to First Nations’ ability to care for country.
  • Discerning individual and corporate responsibility for climate harms.
  • Theologies of creation.
  • Pope Francis and integral ecology.
  • Pathways toward a just transition to sustainable living.


Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to achieve an overall minimum grade of pass (50%).

The assessment strategy is designed to enable students to display achievement of all learning outcomes. 

To enhance assessment authenticity, assessment is integrated with class activities. This involves written and oral activities that assess understanding of key concepts and debates, as well as discussion with peers and the production of individual work.

Task 1 asks students to explain the central problems and root causes of ecological justice. It is a written or oral assessment task undertaken in class and enables achievement of Learning Outcome 1. The task fosters core skills which will be further developed in Tasks 2 and 3.

Task 2 invites students to develop a project which analyses and works towards a response to a particular ecological challenge. This task enables students to display achievement of all three Learning Outcomes.

Task 3 asks students to integrate their range of learning across the unit by reflecting on the relationship between key themes investigated in the unit and create responses to pressing ecological problems, particularly through the lens of integral ecology. It is an application task that enables students to display achievement of all learning outcomes. 

Overview of assessments

Task 1: Foundation Task Requires students to demo...

Task 1: Foundation Task

Requires students to demonstrate understanding of central problems and root causes of ecological injustice. 

Weighting

20%

Learning Outcomes LO1
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC6, GC7

Task 2: Critical Analysis Project Requires stu...

Task 2: Critical Analysis Project

Requires students to demonstrate critical engagement with a particular ecological challenge, and work toward a response produced in class.

Weighting

40%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC5, GC6, GC7, GC8

Task 3: Reflection and Application Task Requires ...

Task 3: Reflection and Application Task

Requires students to reflect on the key themes of the unit and create responses to pressing ecological problems.

Weighting

40%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC5, GC6, GC7, GC8

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit will be offered as a flipped classroom, drawing on the standard 150 hours of focused learning. Students are required to complete online modules as well as attend on-campus seminars, where some assessment will be conducted. In these seminars, a range of learning activities will take place, to develop, test, and consolidate knowledge, and share ideas with others. 

The collaborative learning aspect emerges most strongly through interactions in the class or online forums, which require students to enter into critical engagement with one other in thinking through key problems in the field. Active participation in this unit is an essential element of student learning, reflected in the assessment strategy.

Learning is aimed to be engaging and supportive, helping students to develop critical thinking and reflection skills by engaging with a wide range of approaches and perspectives.

Because of the humanities-based nature of the unit, the learning strategy aims to help students develop skills in analysis, critical thinking, reflection, and the interpretation of complex and nuanced themes, and then to relate these themes back to their own contexts. In this way, the student is placed at the centre of learning, and learning is an active and relevant process.

Representative texts and references

Representative texts and references

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Social Justice Statement 2021-2022. https://socialjustice.catholic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Social-Justice-Statement-2021-22.pdf

Cripps, Elizabeth. Climate Change and the Moral Agent: Individual Duties in an Interdependent World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Deneulin, Séverine and Clemens Sedmak, eds. Integral Human Development: Catholic Social Teaching and the Capability Approach. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2023.

Mickey, Kelly, et al. (eds.). The Variety of Integral Ecologies. New York: SUNY, 2017.

Nordhaus, William. The Climate Casino. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.

Nussbaum, Martha. Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.

Pope Francis. Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home, 2015. Vatican Website. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

Pope Francis. Laudate Deum: Apostolic Exhortation to All People of Good Will on the Climate Crisis, 2023.Vatican Website: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html

Shue, Henry. Climate Justice: Vulnerability and Protection, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Táíwò, Olúfẹ́mi. Reconsidering Reparations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.


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