Department of English

In this class we will engage with an array of literary, filmic, and media texts to interrogate the notion of the environment. We read widely in the history and philosophy of science, animal studies, media studies, and feminist science studies to explore the role the environment has played in different fields of study. Some questions we will pose are: In what ways does the environment shape media and literature and vice versa? What does it mean to say that an aspect of life — such as sex or race — is environmentally determined? How are theories of viral media and microbial contagion related? How do vulnerable communities document their struggles against resource extractivism?

We will read essays by theorists of the environment such as Charles Darwin, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Samuel Butler, Jakob von Uexküll, Karen Barad, Eva Hayward, Jussi Parikka, Vandana Shiva, Lisa Parks, Donna Haraway, Gloria Chan-Sook Kim, Kathryn Yusoff, Nadine Chan, Vanessa Agard-Jones, Priscilla Wald, John Durham Peters, and Macarena Gómez Barris, as well as watch/feel films and artworks by Hito Steyerl, Michael Madsen, and Carolina Caycedo. Works of fiction that we will read include Helon Habila's Oil on Water, Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native, and Mahasweta Devi's Pterodactyl, Puran Sahay, and Pirtha.