Studying literary works through an ecological lens will inform and nuance students’ perceptions of the relationship between culture and nature, the foundation of our current environmental sensibilities, and the role of human beings in the care and sustenance of the earth. Using regional and thematic approaches, the course considers the links between literary appreciation and social action.
Prerequisites:
Ways of Reading: Fiction (ENG‑103);
Ways of Reading: Poetry and Drama (ENG‑104);
ENG-103 or 104 (Recommended)
Ways of Reading: Fiction
ENG‑103
Stories: how do they tell us about the world? Looking at short fiction and novels from a range of historical periods, in this course we will cultivate the ability to read with imaginative, intellectual, and spiritual discernment.
Ways of Reading: Poetry and Drama
ENG‑104
How do poems and plays express human experience? In this course we will develop our interpretive skills to understand more fully the ways by which we engage the poetry and drama of the past and present. We will be reading works by writers in the traditional English literary canon and by writers who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color in order for us to have a dialogue with a wide range of poems and plays, then and now.