ENGL 8090 is also offered in Fall 2024
ENGL 8090 is also offered in Spring 2024
ENGL 8090 is also offered in Fall 2023
ENGL 8090 is also offered in Spring 2023
Spring 2023 | ENGL 8090 Section 001: Seminar in Special Subjects -- Contemporary Literature and the Environment (64573)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Repeat Credit Limit:
- 12 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person
- Class Attributes:
Delivery Mode
Topics Course
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
UMTC, East Bank
Pillsbury Hall 212
- Enrollment Status:
Closed (10 of 10 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Sample topics: literature of World War II, writings of the Holocaust, literature of English Civil War, advanced versification.
- Class Notes:
- This interdisciplinary seminar is intended for students in English Literature, Creative Writing, and other graduate degree programs who wish to explore the relationship of "contemporary literature" and "the environment," broadly conceived. (Both categories will remain under question throughout the semester.) We will begin with an overview of ecocriticism and the environmental humanities as a diverse set of analytic and creative practices that can be applied to a wide range of literary and cultural forms. We will then examine the history of nonfiction "nature writing" in the U.S. as an example of one such form, paying particular attention to the genre's problematic roots in settler colonialism, romantic individualism, and white environmentalism. The bulk of our time, however, will be spent on contemporary instances of "posthuman" or "postnatural" ecocriticism and environmental writing, created by a diversity of writers working in English, both as subjects for critical analysis and models of creative practice. We will plan this central portion of the course collectively, so that our readings will be as responsive to the needs and desires of as many class members as possible. Likely themes include trauma, justice, violence, and materiality, and likely subjects include animals, food, energy, and climate. Sample texts (among many) we may consider include Aimee Nezhukumatathil's essay collection "World of Wonders" (2020), Katherine Standefer's medical memoir "Lightning Flowers" (2020), Kim Stanley Robinson's climate novel "The Ministry for the Future" (2020), Kate Beaton's graphic narrative "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands" (2022), and Erica Berry's work of cultural criticism "Wolfish" (2023). We will also watch at least one example of environmental film, television, and media, such as the Indigenous food documentary "Gather" (2020). A key question we will ask throughout is: can stories create change, and if so, how? Assignments will include attendance and participation
- Class Description:
- Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/64573/1233
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2023 English Classes