Climate and Environment in the Pre-Modern World

Explore business concepts across diverse subjects while immersing yourself deeply in another language, culture, and business landscape.

Overview

Climate history is a rapidly evolving field of study that aims (1) to reconstruct climate conditions over past centuries and millennia and (2) understand how societies perceived and responded to changing climates and extreme weather. These aims can be best achieved by combining evidence from both natural and human archives. In this module we will examine the historical development of natural archives such as tree-rings and ice-cores and introduce how they can be used to reveal climate variations in the past. We will then examine how this information can be combined with evidence from human archives, including written and archaeological records, to understand the social impacts of climate change and extreme weather. In doing so, we will draw upon case studies of major episodes of climate change from the ancient and medieval eras. These case studies will bring us from ancient Egypt and Babylonia to the ancient American Southwest, and from there to Medieval Ireland, Japan, China and beyond. In these places we will examine the role that explosive volcanic eruptions and rapid changes in the Sun’s output of energy played in causing extreme weather that was often accompanied by major human impacts such as famine, disease and conflict, before studying the ways in which ancient and medieval societies attempted to cope with these impacts and adapt to changing climates.

Lecturer: Dr Francis Ludlow

Date, Time, and Place

Day-time course: Time and venue to be confirmed. Please check our website in December 2022 www.historieshumanities.tcd.ie/shortcourses for updates text ‘INFO’ to 087 257 2015.

Duration

This lecture-only module comprises of one lecture per week over one term
commencing in January 2023.

Climate and Environment in the Pre-Modern World

Course Fees

€75 for the course. The concession rate for the course is €45. * The concession rate is available to second and third level students and people whose primary source of income is a Social Welfare pension or payment, Jobseekers, Health Board or a government-sponsored employment scheme.

Apply

Please check our website www.histories-humanities.tcd.ie/shortcourses in August for updates on enrolment dates and term dates.

You may apply online or by phone* as follows:

ONLINE: You may register and pay by credit/debit card online at www.histories-humanities.tcd.ie/shortcourses AFTER enrolments open for each term.

By telephone: Please text ‘APPLY FOR COURSE’ to 087 257 2015* and you will receive a call back from us.

Please note, due to the introduction of Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) for online transactions, it may not always be possible to accept payments over the phone. Please ensure that you have your banking app installed on your phone or are aware of other forms of payment verification. If you are having difficulties, we are here to help. Please TEXT 087 257 2015 and you will receive a call back to help you through the booking process. www.tcd.ie/courses Professional Development and Short Courses 2022/23 63 Please also note that the phone will be very busy during the application period and staff continue to work from home some of the time so there may be a delay in replying to your call

IN PERSON: We are delighted to welcome you back to in-person application with the addition of contactless card payment in room 3141 Arts Building. Dates and times of office opening for in-person payment will be announced on our website in August.

Please note that the phone will be very busy during the application period and staff continue to work from home so there may be a delay in replying to your call. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

* Text only phone.

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