124820 SE Cultural and Media Studies Seminar (MA) (2025W)
Plants, Fungi and Soil - Ecofeminism and Earthcare in Times of Climate Collapse
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Mo 08.09.2025 00:00 to Mo 22.09.2025 12:00
- Deregistration possible until Fr 31.10.2025 23:59
Details
max. 10 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
Please take note of the irregular, blocked sessions!
- Wednesday 08.10. 08:15 - 09:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
- Wednesday 15.10. 08:15 - 09:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
- Wednesday 22.10. 08:15 - 11:30 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
- N Wednesday 03.12. 08:15 - 11:30 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
- Wednesday 10.12. 08:15 - 11:30 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
- Wednesday 17.12. 08:15 - 11:30 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
- Wednesday 14.01. 08:15 - 11:30 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Amid the worsening climate crisis and the repression of climate activisms that runs parallel to the rise of right-wing radicalisms across Europe and the US, this cultural studies seminar is about finding hope and suggesting new, sustainable ways of relating to the soil and our concrete, contingent environment in the sense of Carolyn Merchant’s “earthcare.“ By focussing on the representation of plants, fungi and soil across a variety of media, students learn to analysye and confront the destructive logics of our time, referred to as the Chthulucene by Donna Haraway or the Capitalocene by Jason Moore, and how to imagine liveable futures.In this seminar, students will develop their own multimedia projects – be it the analysis of climate activist accounts on social media, a comparison of disaster movies or the greenwashing advertising strategies of global corporations or influencers – focusing on the role of plants, fungi and soil in these texts. Based on Stefania Barca’s Forces of Reproduction: Notes for a Counter-Hegemonic Anthropocene (2020), students will acquire a sound understanding of ecofeminist theory. At the end of this class, they will be able to define and use relevant theoretical positions reflecting the debate in the field and will be able to formulate a research question and make a clear point for their MA paper. MA students are expected to rely on their more advanced knowledge of texts, theories and methodologies to develop a more independent and more critical research project, also as a way of further developing skills and competences for their MA thesis projects.
Assessment and permitted materials
(1) Participation: general attendance, preparation of reading/other course materials, continuous contribution to classes on site and via Moodle
(2) Portfolio: Creative Writing Task, Research Proposal and Oral Defense of Proposal
(3) 10-Minute Paper at Student Conference
(4) MA-Paper of 6.500-8.000 words
(2) Portfolio: Creative Writing Task, Research Proposal and Oral Defense of Proposal
(3) 10-Minute Paper at Student Conference
(4) MA-Paper of 6.500-8.000 words
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
(1) Participation: 10 points (attendance, preparation, contributions in class & online)
(2) Portfolio: 30 points (creative writing task at the beginning of term 10 points, research proposal + oral defense 20 points,)
(3) Paper presented at student conference: 10 points (presentations in January)
(4) Final paper: 50 pointsOverall Score of 100 Points.
Pass-Mark: 60 Points.The overall grading scheme is (1): 100-90, (2): 89-80, (3): 79-70, (4): 69-60, (5): 59-0.All of the course requirements (participation, the portfolio with all of its taks, the paper presented a the student conference as well as the final paper) need to be fulfilled! Not showing up for your presentation or not handing in the mandatory written assignments equates dropping out of the course and being assessed with a negative grade!Class attendance is mandatory. This is an interactive course. It relies in large parts on forms of communal learning (in a safe, but challenging community of peers) and therefore requires students' regular attendance. You can miss two sessions of this course (= 1 blocked date). You may miss another date with a viable doctor's note, but then need to compensate what you missed in close consultation with me. If you miss more than two double sessions, this will have to result in you failing the course.AI tools like ChatPDF, ChatGPT, Research Rabbit, or EducationCopilot etc. might be used as augmented research and writing strategies (detailed discussion in class). A compulsory AI statement reflecting the use and implementation of tools and their results needs to be included in your final paper.Note “Barrierefrei Studieren”: Students with disabilities or mental health issues may be granted special conditions. For more information and support, please go to: https://studieren.univie.ac.at/studienorganisation/barrierefrei-studieren/.
(2) Portfolio: 30 points (creative writing task at the beginning of term 10 points, research proposal + oral defense 20 points,)
(3) Paper presented at student conference: 10 points (presentations in January)
(4) Final paper: 50 pointsOverall Score of 100 Points.
Pass-Mark: 60 Points.The overall grading scheme is (1): 100-90, (2): 89-80, (3): 79-70, (4): 69-60, (5): 59-0.All of the course requirements (participation, the portfolio with all of its taks, the paper presented a the student conference as well as the final paper) need to be fulfilled! Not showing up for your presentation or not handing in the mandatory written assignments equates dropping out of the course and being assessed with a negative grade!Class attendance is mandatory. This is an interactive course. It relies in large parts on forms of communal learning (in a safe, but challenging community of peers) and therefore requires students' regular attendance. You can miss two sessions of this course (= 1 blocked date). You may miss another date with a viable doctor's note, but then need to compensate what you missed in close consultation with me. If you miss more than two double sessions, this will have to result in you failing the course.AI tools like ChatPDF, ChatGPT, Research Rabbit, or EducationCopilot etc. might be used as augmented research and writing strategies (detailed discussion in class). A compulsory AI statement reflecting the use and implementation of tools and their results needs to be included in your final paper.Note “Barrierefrei Studieren”: Students with disabilities or mental health issues may be granted special conditions. For more information and support, please go to: https://studieren.univie.ac.at/studienorganisation/barrierefrei-studieren/.
Examination topics
This is an interactive course with continuous assessment. There will be no written exam. Students are expected to actively participate in class, engage with the class readings, and prepare for the sessions in the online forum (working on a wide range of different tasks, giving peer feedback, etc.). They will prepare a portfolio (incl. a creative writing task and a research proposal (incl. an oral defense), give a 10-minute presentation at a student conference at the end of term and hand in a final paper.
Reading list
We will use Stefania Barca’s Forces of Reproduction: Notes for a Counter-Hegemonic Anthropocene (2020) as class literature, alongside excerpts from Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing’s The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins (2015) and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass (2013), Gathering Moss (2021) as vegetal guiding literature. Excerpts from feminist-materialist theory by Silvia Federici (Re-Enchanting the Commons, 2019) and Nancy Fraser (Cannibal Capitalism, 2022) will be provided on Moodle. In addition, relevant secondary literature will be selected in accordance with students’ interests and ideas for their individual research projects.
Association in the course directory
Studium: MA 844(2)
Code/Modul: M 4.1, M 4.2
Lehrinhalt: 12-0631
Code/Modul: M 4.1, M 4.2
Lehrinhalt: 12-0631
Last modified: Tu 07.10.2025 18:06