We are living in a world of multiple ecological and humanitarian crises, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and demographic pressures due to this. Those crises of the “Anthropocene,” are interconnected and aggravate one another. The Master program “Culture, Ecology, Change” enables students to grasp, and act upon, the world views and historical causes of these problems. The socio-ecological transformation of society can succeed only if the respective cultural and epistemic foundations are understood. Hence, this Master program critically analyzes current cultural narratives and values and contrasts them with alternative framings – real and imaginary ones. Especially in culture and art, we find many counter-narratives that can serve as a blueprint for cultural change. CEC therefore takes a decidedly ecocritical approach, which is complemented by select interdisciplinary research on sustainability offered by various departments outside of British and American Studies (e.g., law, landscape ecology, marine ecology, agrarian economics, philosophy, history). Students will be equipped with the appropriate scientific tools for analyzing, interpreting and shaping socio-ecological processes and transformations towards a sustainable future. Reflection and reception of current theoretical propositions will be embedded in a global and historical context in order to grasp the complex connections between climate change, migration, coloniality and populism/racism/fundamentalism.

The goal of “Culture, Ecology, Change” is to establish environmental humanities and ecocritical studies in the various fields of education, as well as to understand literature, culture, and language as actors in their own right in the multiple processes of shaping an ecologically sustainable and socially just world.