Course Description:
In this class we will explore the concept of environment in American writing from the 19th century to the present. We will address fundamental questions about the relation between nature and culture at play in American thinking about the environment, and explore what it means to undertake the uniquely human practice of writing as a means to evoke, describe or connect to the non-human world. We will begin with Thoreau’s Walden, and end with contemporary environmental writers including Leslie Marmon Silko, Barry Lopez and Annie Dillard. Along the way we will also engage theoretical frameworks for thinking about nature proposed by Leo Marx, Lawrence Buell, and others. Students will develop their own practices of writing about place, which will inform our on-going conversation about the meaning of “environmental writing” and its role in our contemporary, endangered world.
About the blog:
As a way of both tracking and extending our ongoing in-class conversations, I will moderate a blog devoted to this class. Over the course of the semester, each student will be required to contribute at least six posts and six responses to the class blog, which all students will be required to read each week before discussion on Monday. Each week that you are assigned a blog post, set aside some time (20 minutes or so) for a silent, solitary walk. You should walk for at least 15 minutes, leave your cell phone behind, and try your best to be completely silent during the walk. (It’s a good idea to walk away from the center of campus, so you won’t run into people). Your blog posts should be both a response to your immediate environment and a reflection on the week's readings. Blog posts should include quotations from the text(s) to which they respond, but otherwise the form these entries take is entirely up to you.
You will write blog posts every other week, according to the schedule on your syllabus. On the weeks during which you are not writing for the blog, you will be expected to respond to one of the entries posted by your peers before class discussion on Monday. Comments should refer to particular points made in the original entry.
Writing for the blog need not be formal in tone, but it should be written and proofread carefully. Entries and comments will be graded for their originality, clarity, style and level of detail. You will not be graded per individual blog post, but will be given a midterm and final blog/comment grade. Blog entries should be 500 words, minimum. Responses should be 200 words, minimum. In addition to the required posts, other reflections, photographs, links, etc. are also highly encouraged!
