Modelling the Human-Earth Connections: A Journey Through Time and Scientific Disciplines
Summer term 2025
Did you ever wonder how humans have shaped and were shaped by planet Earth throughout history? Understanding such deep and enduring interactions between humans and the Earth system presents a central challenge of the 21st century. How can scientific modelling approaches contribute to a better understanding of the complex and dynamic nature of the relationship between humans and the functioning of the Earth?
The cross-faculty initiative of the HESCOR project brings together the research strengths of the UoC in Earth system modelling, climate change science, archaeological research on past human-environment relations, and humanities perspectives on the place of humans in nature. The aim is to gain a more comprehensive insight into the past, present, and future of human interrelations with changing climate and environments.
The six interconnected lectures explore key topics of research featured by HESCOR, ranging from the long-term evolution of human cultures and their interactions with environments in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene to the latest methodological developments and applications of innovative computational modelling approaches across Earth system science. The series concludes with an examination of effective strategies for communicating research results, insights and challenges to a wider audience.
All lectures will be presented in English.
Assignment of the course to Studium Integrale (SI) and extracurricular programmes (EA); publication via guest auditor and senior studies.
Schedule:
| Date | Responsible PIs and Postdocs | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 14.04. | Andreas Maier / Silviane Scharl | Deep-Time Cultural Evolution - Current Research Questions |
| 28.04. | Kate Rigby / Roman Bartosch / Carolin Schwegler / Shumon Hussain / Dominik Ohrem | Modelling Human-Environment Entanglements |
| 12.05. | Christian Wegener / Annika Vogel | Human & Earth System Coupled Research |
| 26.05. | Nikki Vercauteren / Oliver Kern | The Earth System - Modelling Present and Past |
| 09.06. Pfingstmontag | ||
| 23.06. | Angela Kunoth / Max Brockmann Gregor Gassner / Andrés Rueda-Ramírez / Boqiang Huang | Network Modelling and Machine Learning Approaches for Coupling Human and Earth System Data |
| 07.07. | Verena Förster / Elena Robakiewicz | Data Communication: Reaching Specialists and the Masses |
Target group
The target group are students of all degree programmes, guest students, doctoral students and the interested public. No specialised knowledge is required.
The total of 6 lectures will be presented by different lecturers. Registration is not required to listen to the lectures. Unless you would like to earn credit points for this course as part of Studium Integrale. In this case, please register in KLIPS and create a 3-minute video clip on a topic of a selected lecture.
Further details can be found directly in KLIPS under the course number LV 14904.3603.
Date and place
The lectures take place every 14 days, Mondays 15.30 - 17.45 in the Geo-/Bio-Hörsaal in Zülpicher Str. 49a, building 310c. The first date is 14 April 2025.