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Planetary History: Debates and Approaches
Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:07:47
Abstract
The seminar will explore debates around a new field of historical inquiry framed as “planetary history.” It will focus on recent publications, trace theoretical and historiographical genealogies, and critically engage with questions about the possibilities of inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to historical research.
Objective
Students will examine recent debates on planetary history, its methods and biases, and its role in discussions of environmental degradation and climate change. Through intensive reading and debate sessions, they will sharpen their skills in textual analysis and understanding historiographical foundations.
Content
This seminar introduces students to the emerging field of planetary history through the debate over the proposed geological era of the Anthropocene. While the Anthropocene concept has fostered transdisciplinary collaboration, it has also drawn sharp criticism from historians and social scientists for downplaying political, economic, and global inequalities, as well as power asymmetries. Building on Dipesh Chakrabarty’s call to conjoin Earth system history, the evolution of human and non-human life, and the history of capitalism, the course examines how global modernity can be rethought by connecting the planetary and the global. Students will engage with diverse reactions to planetary history: some scholars emphasize narratives that recognize multiple temporalities and multiple worlds, while others advance a cosmopolitan universalism grounded in the material interconnections of planetary processes. The course will take the form of a research seminar with extensive readings, presentations, and classroom debates, exploring how diversity and unity intersect at the core of the “One Planet” debate.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- MSC
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Registration & Places
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| seminar | Planetary History: Debates and Approaches | No time listed | 2 h weekly |