Department of English

• Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Fisher-Bennett Hall Faculty Lounge  

What happens when we recognize the nineteenth century as the period when anthropogenic ecological crisis first leaps to a planetary scale? How are cultural objects caught in and created by global webs of imperialist extractive economies and new fossil energy systems? What is the role of literature in theorizing more expansive ecologies, imagining alternative historical trajectories, and toggling between human and planetary scales? Can the study of nineteenth-century culture sharpen ongoing debates about how to properly characterize the history and causes of planetary ecocide today? 

Readings:

M.P. Shiel, The Purple Cloud 
Benjamin Morgan, "Fin du Globe"
Kathyrn Yusoff, A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None