Description

This module will draw together concepts of habitability from across the university, starting in our own Solar System and exploring how we find and understand habitable planets in the wider galaxy using modern telescopes. We will look at life at the extremes, considering extremophiles on Earth, and what they might tell us about habitable conditions elsewhere, before approaching the sustainability and long term habitability of our own planet.

From this initial exploration of the realities of habitability, we will turn to our own reactions to it. Popular culture is replete with the idea of the other, within our normal environment and outside of it. A sense of precariousness underpins literature and film, from Jules Verne to Ridley Scott’s The Martian. In cinema, the development of special effects is closely linked to the presentation of alien life and other worlds. Finally, even the ideas of politics are affected: how should we organise a growing settlement on another planet, where small mistakes can rapidly lead to failure and death?"

Structure

The overall module will consist of weekly 2 hour sessions, comprising a lecture followed by a more interactive seminar and discussion. During the lecture we will introduce new concepts from differing departmental perspectives. The seminars will allow the students the opportunity to synthesise these concepts into a complete understanding of ‘Habitability in the Universe’. These seminars will consist of guided discussions and group activities, as relevant to each topic covered. Each week will be led by academics from the appropriate departments. We will cover a scientific conception of habitability, on the Earth, in the solar system and wider galaxy, while expanding the concept progressively to include presentations and concepts of habitability in literature and the arts.

Illustrative Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction and Planetary Habitability – David Armstrong (Physics)

Week 2: Origins of Life - Jose Guttierrez-Marcos (Life Sciences)

Week 3: Habitability in Film: The Martian – Catherine Constable (Film and Television Studies)

Week 4: Life science of The Martian: soil and sustainable colonies - Hendrik Schaefer (Life Sciences)

Week 5: Habitability in the Solar System/Examination pathways – David Brown/David Armstrong (Physics)

Week 6: Humans, Chickens and Tardigrades: Multicellular life at the extremes - Kevin Moffat (Life Sciences)

Week 7: Forms of cognition - Thomas Hills (Psychology)

Week 8: Habitability on Earth - John Pickering (Psychology)

Week 9: Neocatastrophism - Elizabeth Stanway (Physics)

Week 10: The Early Modern Space Age - Michael Bycroft (History)

Term 3: Assessment presentations

Module convenor

Dr David Armstrong
(D dot J dot Armstrong at warwick dot ac dot uk)

When

Term 2 (Spring) 2018-2019
Tuesdays 10.00-12.00

Where

Room SH2.05 (weeks 15,17-20, 22-23) Senate House (2nd Floor)

Room H4.22 (weeks 16, 21 and 24)
Humanities Building

Assessment

For 10 CATS:
1500 word Essay/Report/Literature Review (60%)
15 minute student presentation
+ 5 minutes of questions (40%)

For 20 CATS:
2500 word Essay/Report/Literature Review (60%)
15 minute student presentation
+ 5 minutes of questions (40%)