Sea, Nature and Finnish Culture
The course explores how sea and nature have interwoven with Finnish culture and the way of everyday life during time.
It reveals how the Baltic Sea, Finnish archipelago and the lakes and forests have inspired Finnish people. Also, it demonstrates how the relationship between human and non-human nature has altered in the Finnish region from the early times to present day.
Date: 9.-20.8.2021 (see detailed schedule below).
Place: Online – the course uses Zoom and Moodle as platforms for lectures, materials and assignments.
Credits: 5 ECTS
Price: 75€
Application: by 12.4.2021
Short description
The student will get the basic knowledge of the long-term relationship between human and non-human nature in Finnish society and culture. The course will grant knowledge of both Finnish society and culture and generally how the environment has affected human cultures and vice versa. It will grant transferable skills that can be utilized in various fields of studies, from natural sciences to social sciences and humanities, and outside the academia.
Outcomes
The student will be able to
- Understand the connection between Finnish culture and nature.
- Perceive past from the perspective of more-than-human history.
- See the impact of the environment on our everyday life.
Target audience
Undergraduate students in any field
Methods
Lectures, learning diary, essay, excursion to the archipelago and excursion assignments (either concrete excursion or videos and online assignments).
Course schedule
The course takes place in 9.8.-17.8.2021. Lectures are Monday to Friday 12-15 EET. The students can attend to live lectures or watch the recorded lectures afterwards.
The excursion that was planned to take place in 20.8. will be now implemented as an excursion assignment with the video packages representing the Finnish relationship with nature and sea. Learning diaries, the essay and the excursion assignment are done outside of the lecture hours. All the course work should be completed by 30.8.2021.
Student workload
Lectures and learning diaries, approx. 25 h; essay, approx. 72 h; the excursion and assignments, approx. 24 h = Approx. 121 h.
Assessment
Evaluation scale 0 -5 (0=fail – 5=excellent).
Assessment criteria
- Participation in lectures.
- Reflective learning diaries.
- Minor research about the relationship between human and non-human in Finnish society and culture in the form of an essay.
- The excursion assignment.
Learning materials
Lectures and other learning materials mentioned during the lectures.
Selection
A motivation letter written in English explaining why the student is interested in the course, what s/he expects to get out of it and how s/he plans to use what s/he has learnt in her/his future life.
Number of students: max 35