Visualising "Nature": Landscape, Land Art and Environmental Ethics
UndergraduateLTU-ART30012025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 20 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Price from
- $1,164
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Visualising "Nature": Landscape, Land Art and Environmental Ethics
About this subject
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Analyse and evaluate ethical debates and ideas that apply to current ecological and environmental issues within a contemporary art context.
- Articulate and develop an understanding of changing interpretations of the landscape tradition and their relation to ecological issues.
- Demonstrate a broad understanding of how art is made and responds to its cultural, political and historical context.
- Consolidate advanced research, critical and reflective thinking and writing skills by evaluating key ideas and concepts.
- What is Nature?
- The Western Landscape Tradition
- First Nations' Art and Care for Country
- Land Art
- Environmental Ethics
- "Nature Photocraphy" and Activism
- Art and Climate Emergency
Our understanding of what is ‘nature’ or ‘natural’ is embedded in systems of value that are thoroughly mediated by representations in art and visual culture. In Western philosophical traditions, ‘nature’ has been understood as separate from ‘culture’ and as such more easily cast as a resource to be exploited for the benefit of humans. First Nations peoples have a more relational integrated worldview where human beings are but one component of a complex and ever-changing web of relationships. In this subject, you explore how these ideas are shaped by and reflected in various visual approaches over time, and critically consider the role that visualisations of ‘nature’ play in processes of social change. You focus on: the Western landscape tradition and its transformation at the encounter with Indigenous representations of Country; the influence of land art in its many manifestations on how we conceive of human/nature relations; and the long history and contemporary examples of artistic projects and interventions driven by the desire for environmental justice.
You will participate in weekly seminars to develop your own perspective and point of view, in addition to engaging with a range of learning activities.
- Textual analysis (400 words) (10%)
- Case Study 1 (800 words equiv.) (20%)
- Case Study 2 (1000 words) (30%)
- Research essay (1600 words) (40%)
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.
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 17
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 18
Entry requirements
Equivalent subjects
You should not enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
LTU-ARH3ENV (Not currently available)
Others
Prerequisites: Students must have completed 60 credit points of Level one or Level two subjects.
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
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Health Sciences
UndergraduateLAT-AHS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-ART-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-HSC-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-BUS-DEG
Bachelor of Information Technology
UndergraduateLAT-TEC-DEG
Bachelor of Psychological Science
UndergraduateLAT-PYS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-CYS-DEG
Bachelor of Planning (Honours)
UndergraduateLAT-PLN-DEG
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