Environmental Humanities and Ethics in Interdisciplinary Contexts

Abstract

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  Profile of the study programme

  The master proghramme «Environmental Humanities and Ethics in Interdisciplinary Contexts» educates environmental scientists with a special competence in environmental humanities and ethics. All modules consist of course units providing a general overview or introduction to the fields of studies and allow for specialisation in specific contexts of environmental sciences and humanities. Within this highly interdisciplinary setting, students choose amongst different interdisciplinary contexts at different Faculties where they will deepen their competences, ranging from biology, geosciences to environmental economics and law. A key focus lies on the environmental humanities with a special emphasis on ethical decision-making in environmental practice.

  Structure of classes and lectures
  All course units of this programme make true interdisciplinarity possible as they are followed in their Faculties and Departments of origin together with students from the respective fields. The programme offers five modules and the master thesis:

  1. The environmental humanities module consists of courses in the fields of the environmental humanities and in ethics. Examples are courses in environmental ethics, methods of ethical decision-making and courses in environmental history and political ecology.
  2. The geosciences module deepens knowledge in methods and theory of earth sciences, as well as human and physical geography.
  3. The environmental biology module extends knowledge in ecology and biological evolution.
  4. The sustainable economy module provides the necessary background in economic thinking in the context of sustainability.
  5. The environmental law module focuses on public law at national, European and international levels.

  Finally, the master thesis is interdisciplinary, focusing on ethical or humanist aspects of a chosen environmental governance and practice context.

  The environmental humanities module aims at building in-depth competences in humanist approaches to environmental challenges while a special focus lies on ethics and ethical decision-making. The chosen two other modules provide the necessary generalist background to understand the basic scientific, economic or legal aspects of environmental issues to be governed today. Depending on their prerequisites, students follow more advanced or more basic courses. The master thesis allows a specialisation on the humanist or ethical aspects of the chosen field of research.

  Skills acquired and career opportunities
  In this master programme, students develop their skills in analytical thinking, precise argumentation and recognising the ethical implications of environmental practice. In addition, they acquire general biological, geoscientific, economic or legal skills in the environmental challenges of our time, depending on the contexts they have chosen, and specialise in the context of their master thesis. Studying at the multilingual University of Fribourg enables students to acquire language skills in German, English and French. Most courses are taught in English.
  The master programme qualifies students for further research in the environmental sciences and environmental humanities, particularly in applied ethics and philosophy. Career opportunities include environmental administration and public institutions (local, national, regional and international), urban and regional planning, environmental consulting, sustainable development and NGOs with a focus on environmental issues.

Studies organisation

Structure of studies

Curriculum

Admission

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