Environmental Destruction:
An Introduction to the Environmental Humanities
What can the humanities teach us about our current environmental crisis? This question is at the heart of the “environmental humanities,” which consider the ways that humans are entangled in a world with plants, animals, and other “things” that are framed as “natural resources.”
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“Environmental Destruction” will focus on the ideological causes, palpable effects, and imagined futures linked to humans' destruction of our environments. In addition to one traditional paper you'll produce podcasts on the history of early conservation or preservation efforts and digital essays that introduce pressing environmental problems by situating them in a longer historical, literary, and cultural context.
Course Texts​
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Emerson and Thoreau, Nature & "Walking"
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Henry David Thoreau, Walden
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John Muir, Essential Muir
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Natasha Trethewey, Beyond Katrina​
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Additional readings are posted on Canvas.
Course Schedule and Classrooms:
ENG D/ENV B: MW 12:45-2, Wake Downtown Room 1505
ENG E/ENV C: MW 2:15-3:30, Wake Downtown Room 1505
ENG F/ENV D: MW 5:00-6:15, Tribble C216
Assignments
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Participation (20%)
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Apply our Readings (6%)
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Podcast (10%)
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Argumentative Essay (20%)
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Final Project: (40%)
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Assignment details are linked to each title.
See Course Policies and Campus Resources here.
Schedule of Readings and Assignments
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Week 1: Introductions
January 13: In class: Introductions
In class: Syllabus and Assignments
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Weeks 1 & 2: Ralph Waldo Emerson
January 15: Emerson, Nature, excerpts
January 20: MLK Holiday
January 22: Emerson, Nature, excerpts
Emerson, "The Young American," excerpts
Emerson; Natural History of the Intellect, excerpts
"Giving Emerson the Boot"
Week 3: Henry David Thoreau
January 27: Thoreau, Walden, “Economy," “Where I Lived"
January 29: Thoreau, Walden, “Higher Laws, “Conclusion”
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To learn about the history and genres of environmental literature
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To situate that literature within a number of relevant contexts
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To improve close reading skills
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To conduct research and engage with primary sources
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To produce, support, and revise argumentative essays
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To apply your thinking about literature and history to contemporary environmental issues
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To consider and practice sharing information with both peer and public audiences
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To share and collaboratively develop ideas about literature, environmental issues, and your own writing
Learning Outcomes
Week 4: John Muir
February 3: John Muir, Essential Muir
February 5: John Muir, Essential Muir
“Environmentalism’s Racist History”
Introduce Podcasting Assignment
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Week 5: Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way
February 10: Thoreau, “Walking”
“U.S. Expansion and its Consequences,”
Oxford Handbook of American Indian History
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February 12: First Along the River
"Return the National Parks to the Tribes"
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Weeks 6-8: Preservation and Conservation Podcasts
February 12: Discuss Research Strategies and Scholarly Sources
February 17: No Class: Presidents' Day
February 19: Proposals Due; Project Group Meetings
February 24: Work-in-Progress Presentations to get ideas from the class
February 26: Introduction to Podcasting with Brianna Healey
March 3: Script Workshops and Table Reads
March 21: Projects Due
Week 8: Humans and our Footprints
March 5: Alan Weisman, The World WIthout Us, excerpts
Introduce Final Projects
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​Week 9: Hurricane Katrina and Environmental Justice
March 17: Spike Lee, When The Levees Broke, Part I
Natasha Trethewey, Beyond Katrina, 1-70
March 19: Natasha Trethewey, Beyond Katrina, 71-123
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Week 10 & 11: Oil and Climate Change
March 24: Stephanie LeMenager, Living Oil: Petroleum Culture, 3-19, 102-141.
Form Final Project Groups
March 26: Meet with your Final Project Groups
March 31: “Oil Stories” by Tim Gautreaux, Joanna Kavenna, and Mohammed Hasan Alwan​
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Week 11-15: Final Projects​: Digital Essays for environmentaldestruction.org
April 2: Group Meetings: Go over research and framing ideas
April 7: Tech Workshop: Creating Documentaries and Digital Essays
April 9: Group Meetings: Go over proposals and timelines
April 14: Narrative Workshop: Pitch your ideas to the class
April 16: Script Workshop: Go over your drafts
April 21: Final Questions, Conclusions, & Evaluations
April 23: Draft Workshops
April 28: Final Group Meetings
May 2: Projects Due
May 2: Reflective Writing Due
