Themes in Literature: Gardens, Whale Sharks, Warming

From an exhausting heatwave to campus squirrels, we all encounter nature on a daily basis. Literature throughout history has reflected on our relationships to the natural world, and now, in the wake of our current environmental crisis, literature offers a powerful lens for deeper understanding. In this course, we’ll read texts across genres including essays from Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay, among other shorter works. How do relationships between humans and the environment shift across time and cultures? How do writers address big issues like global warming? At the same time, how do writers find joy in small moments of wonder? What can we learn from literature to create or imagine more equitable and sustainable futures? You will be asked to reflect on such topics in two written essays and one creative project across the course of the semester, in addition to informal writing and research assignments designed to help engage you in the readings and their contexts. Students will gain critical thinking and analytical skills, a variety of tools for reading and interpreting texts, the ability to ask questions about pressing issues, and a greater appreciation toward the natural world.