Advanced seminar: "Is Winter still coming? A History of Snow and Ice, and Climate in the 19th and 20th Century" (HS BA, Exkursion)) - Details

Advanced seminar: "Is Winter still coming? A History of Snow and Ice, and Climate in the 19th and 20th Century" (HS BA, Exkursion)) - Details

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General information

Course name Advanced seminar: "Is Winter still coming? A History of Snow and Ice, and Climate in the 19th and 20th Century" (HS BA, Exkursion))
Subtitle mit Exkursion
Course number 09
Semester WS 2024/25
Current number of participants 6
maximum number of participants 15
Home institute Professur für Globale Umweltgeschichte und Environmental Humanities
Courses type Advanced seminar in category Teaching
First date Monday, 21.10.2024 10:00 - 11:30, Room: (U 101 im Wissenschaftszentrum Umwelt)
Type/Form Seminar und Exkursion
Performance record NNG: Seminararbeit, Prüfungsumfang: 16-20 Seiten; Prüfungsdauer: 6 Wochen
Veranstaltung findet in Präsenz statt / hat Präsenz-Bestandteile Yes
Hauptunterrichtssprache englisch

Rooms and times

(U 101 im Wissenschaftszentrum Umwelt)
Monday: 10:00 - 11:30, weekly (12x)
(Virtueller Termin über Zoom)
Monday: 10:00 - 11:30, weekly (1x)
(Exkursion auf den Schneeferner)
Monday: 10:00 - 11:30, weekly (1x)

Module assignments

Comment/Description

“Winter is coming!” – is it? The predictions of snowfall and temperatures below freezing point are some of the most ambivalent exercises during the ‘dark season’ of the year. While mountain webcams allow winter enthusiasts to monitor ski slopes from afar to identify ideal days for exercise, others use the same data to monitor climate change and the massive transformations of our planetary environment. Ice and snow—either as present or absent, as too little or too much—are equally important signifiers for a world of exploration and tourism in extreme environments as they are for climate change. The image of the solitary and pinched polar bear drifting on a shrinking ice-floe has become an omnipresent signifier of a planet under severe pressure.

While icy landscapes have fascinated (and scared) people for centuries, they have moved in particular focus since the nineteenth century. The Arctic, the Antarctic, but also other landscapes of ice and snow, ranging from the Alps to the Kilimanjaro and the Himalaya, have become sites of territorial expansion and exploration on the one hand and snow and climate science on the other hand. In a strangely coupled simultaneity, these landscapes illustrate the ambivalence of the amenities of modernity and the detrimental effects of climate change.

The seminar “Is Winter still coming?” follows this coupled history of ice, snow, and climate from the nineteenth century until today. It discusses themes ranging from the exploration and colonization of the Arctic and Antarctic to the emergence of winter tourism and from the development of ice and climate science to today’s debates around the death of glaciers and the future of alpine tourism. Finally, the seminar is an invitation to those who want to learn more about the discipline of environmental history and practice academic English.

The seminar includes a one-day excursion to the Schneeferner Research Station on the Zugspitz, a place that perfectly captures the simultaneity of winter tourism and snow science. Opened in 1931 as a high-montaineering hotel, it today is home to an environmental research station. The partially-funded excursion takes place January 13, 2025 and will be accompanied by the poet and scholar Anne-Sophie Balzer.

Admission settings

The course is part of admission "HS BA "Is Winter still coming? A History of Snow and Ice, and Climate in the 19th and 20th Century" (HS BA, Exkursion))".
The following rules apply for the admission:
  • The enrolment is possible from 02.09.2024, 08:00 to 27.10.2024, 23:59.
  • A defined number of seats will be assigned to these courses.
    The seats in the affected courses have been assigned at 09.10.2024 on 03:20. Additional seats may be available via a wait list.