HS1024: The United States and the Global Environment: History, Power and Sustainability, 1920-2020

Module code: HS1024

Module provider: History; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: 4

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Mara Oliva , email: m.oliva@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module aims to provide students with a deep understanding of the environmental dimensions of U.S. history and its global impact. By examining the intersection of American environmental practices, strategies, and international engagement, the module seeks to equip students with the analytical tools to critically assess the United States’ role in shaping global environmental change and sustainability efforts.

The aims of the module are:

• Critical Analysis: Develop the students’ ability to critically evaluate environmental consequences of U.S. actions and strategies in a global context, with particular attention to sustainability, renewable energy, and environmental governance.
• Interdisciplinary Approach: Encourage the integration of diverse disciplines – history, politics, environmental studies, and cultural analysis – to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject.
• Research Skills: Foster the ability to analyse and interpret a wide range of primary sources, including literature, music, poetry, films, government documents, and archival materials, with a focus on those housed in Special Collections at the University of Reading and the Mills Archive Trust.
• Historical Context: Enable students to situate US environmental practices within the broader frameworks of domestic environmental politics, the development of environmental multilateralism, and American grand strategy.
• Global Perspective: Highlight the role of the United States in international efforts to address global environmental issues, emphasising the interplay between domestic and international actors and institutions.

The purpose of the module is to deepen students’ understanding of the historical and contemporary relationship between the United States and global environmental change. By examining key events, policies, and cultural influences that shaped this relationship, students will be prepared to critically engage with the challenges of sustainability and environmental governance in the context of US influence and leadership. This will also enable students to develop skills in critical thinking, research, and interdisciplinary analysis, which are vital for understanding and addressing complex environmental challenges

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Critically analyse the environmental impact of U.S. actions and strategies, both domestically and globally, with particular attention to sustainability, renewable energy, and environmental diplomacy.
2. Evaluate the roles and interactions of domestic and international actors and institutions in shaping the United States’ approach to environmental challenges and global environmental governance.
3. Interpret and assess primary sources, including literature, music, films, government documents, and archival materials, to construct evidence-based arguments about US environmental history.
4. Synthetise historical, cultural, and political perspectives to understand the evolution of U.S. environmental practices and their implications for global sustainability efforts.

The module will also:

• encourage students to think independently;
• help students develop good oral communication skills; and
• develop the effectiveness of students in group situations.

Module content

This module explores the intersection of U.S. history and environmental change, examining how American actions and strategies have influenced global environmental outcomes. Spanning the twentieth century through the Obama administration, it situates the environmental dimensions of U.S. engagement within the broader context of domestic environmental politics, the evolution of environmental multilateralism, and American grand strategy.

Students will investigate the interplay of domestic and international actors and institutions that have influenced U.S. environmental decision-making. Events that will be covered include: The creation of US National Parks, early environmental writing and advocacy, the Clean Up America campaign of 1920, the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962, the First Earth Day, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970, and the Paris Agreement of 2016. Through this lens, the module critically assesses the central role of the United States in addressing global environmental challenges, with particular emphasis on sustainability, renewable energy, environmental diplomacy, environmental equality and justice, nuclear history, and digital environmental sustainability.

To deepen their understanding, students will engage with a wide range of primary sources, including literature, music, poetry, films, government documents, and materials from environmental organisations. The module is taught in collaboration with the University’s Special Collections and the Mills Archive Trust, both of which house significant collections of U.S. environmental history. These resources provide unique opportunities for primary research and enrich the learning experience.

Key themes include:

• The historical impact of U.S. environmental actions at home and abroad
• The development and limitations of U.S. environmental multilateralism
• The domestic and international forces shaping American environmental policy
• Critical analysis of U.S. contributions to global sustainability and environmental governance

By the end of the module, students will develop a nuanced understanding of how U.S. strategies have shaped the global environment, enabling them to critically evaluate America’s historical legacy in addressing environmental challenges and fostering sustainability.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching is by eleven weekly two-hour seminars, supplemented by visits to the University’s Special Collections and the Mills Archive Trust in Reading, and independent study.  

Fortnightly workshop sessions will give practical advice on working towards the assessment and practice time for skills related to the module.  

Study hours

At least 27 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Staff will devise formative assessment appropriate to the module content. 

Reassessment

Additional costs