Our climate and our ecology is everywhere: in our human lives and society, our human cultures and imagination. The field of Green media and popular culture brings to life our inescapable relationship with our home, this fragile blue planet. It is a composite of trees, air, water, volcanoes, fossil fuels, trees, animals, weather systems and us. Green media offer us a rich field of inquiry, helping us to study how the green values of popular culture are in contradiction with dominant practices such as capitalism and consumption.  

The seven lectures and viewings will cover key concepts and theories in the area of green media by looking at fiction and non-fiction forms, from Tv series to feature films, documentaries, commercials and infomercials across a variety of genres. Human relationships with the eco-system of animals and plant life, rocks and climate, are often considered to be oppositional. We are raising the temperature of the planet.

How do our media help us understand this? Or cause us to be in denial? Our course seeks to be positive and life-affirming, treating media and the greening of these media as a practice which is both regenerative and resilient.

Day, time, location and costs

• 11 February - 18 March 2025
• Tuesday 11:00-15:00
• Oudemanhuispoort, D0.09
• Costs: € 165 (AUV-members € 148)

Lecturers

Important to know

• The registration deadline for this OUC is 23 January.
• For the current study schedule, please consult the UvA timetable website
• You can only audit an OUC, which means that you may only attend lectures and cannot attend seminars, take part in the examination, or obtain ECTS credits.

Study materials

• To be announced on Canvas.

Public programme Humanities

This Open UvA Course is part of the Faculty of Humanities' public programme. Beside Open UvA Courses, the public programme also comprises special lectures and series of courses. The public programme is intended for alumni, employees looking for extra training, and all others who are interested in art, culture, philosophy, language and literature, history and religion.