Department of English

How we see the world depends on our point of view at the moment. Is it the air, soil and water we depend on? The birds, bugs and bushes? Or is it the atmosphere of our attention, the texture of a coat, a cold wind or fragrance that elicits a memory? This class, drawing on the skills and practices of journalism, lets us play in an environment we choose to define. We’ll read some of the great naturalists – perhaps Pollan, McKibben, Kingsolver, Carson, Abbey, bell hooks, Winona LaDuke, Wendell Berry, Terry Tempest Williams – learn ways to capture our observations in clear, vivid prose, and develop a sensitivity to the life all around us.