Sustainability, Resilience, and Collapse: From Past Societies to the End of Civilisation
UndergraduateLTU-ARC2SRC2025
Enrolments for this course are closed, but you may have other options to start studying now. Book a consultation to learn more.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Start dates
- 3 Mar 2025
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Sustainability, Resilience, and Collapse: From Past Societies to the End of Civilisation
About this subject
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Identify how new scientific techniques can challenge deep-seated narratives around key events in past societal-transformations.
- Evaluate alternative models and theories of societal collapse - recognising how such understandings are constantly re-framed by new theoretical perspectives, new evidence, and/or new analytical techniques.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the difference between sustainability and resilience, using archaeological and/or historical examples of both.
- Apply novel analytical perspectives to archaeological and historical data in order to generate new understandings of societal adaptation to changing environmental conditions.
- Recognise and describe the limitations of archaeological and historical data in the study of changing societal interactions during times of crisis and change.
- Climate Change
- Sustainability and Resilience of Human Societies
- Archaeology
- Collapse of Civilisation
- Societal Complexity
Issues of sustainability and resilience are prominent today in light of accelerating climate change (or deterioration), rising and falling populations, and declining resources. However, these issues are not new, and many human societies have faced these crises in the past.
In this subject you will learn about a range of past societies, from all around the world, that failed to adapt or respond to changing circumstances (including climate change), resulting in their collapse. However, you will also learn about societies in the past that were able to develop sustainable and resilient long-term economies, or who innovated and adapted successfully to climate change - resulting in societies that thrived for centuries (or even millennia) despite significant challenges.
This subject takes an interdisciplinary approach to examining the success or failure of past societies within their respective social-environmental systems - including how those systems were impacted by climate change in the past, and how ongoing climate deterioration might impact our society, or even bring about its end.
This is a level 2 subject, please consider the subject level and prerequisites before enrolling.
- Regular tests (800 word equivalent) Regular short tests on the LMS linked to that period's lecture and tutorial content. (20%)
- Envisioning the future (600 words equivalent) (15%)
- Build-Your-Own Analytical Piece (1750 words equivalent). (35%)
- Essay Review (1000 word equivalent) – In this assessment, students will generate a short essay using an AI tool (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude etc) before critically reviewing and marking the essay for accuracy and understanding. (30%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
The third university established in Victoria, La Trobe University has a diverse community of more than 38,000 students and staff. Its commitment to excellence in teaching and research prepares students to make a bold and positive impact in today's global community. La Trobe provides Open Universities Australia with its core tenets, entrepreneurship and sustainability.
Learn more about La Trobe University.
Explore La Trobe courses.
- QS World University Ranking 2025, within Australia:
- 17
- Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2025, within Australia:
- 15
Entry requirements
Others
Pre-requisites: Students must have completed 60 credit points.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateLAT-BUS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-ART-DEG
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Health Sciences
UndergraduateLAT-AHS-DEG
Bachelor of Psychological Science
UndergraduateLAT-PYS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-HSC-DEG
Bachelor of Information Technology
UndergraduateLAT-TEC-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-CYS-DEG
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