Fall 2024 First-Year Seminar BC1763 section 001

Writing and the Environment

WRITING AND THE ENVIRONME

Call Number 00612
Day & Time
Location
MW 5:40pm-6:55pm
214 Milbank Hall (Barnard)
Points 3
Grading Mode Pass/Fail
Approvals Required None
Instructor Linn C Mehta
Type SEMINAR
Course Description

Beginning with the Popol Vuh, the Mayan myth of creation, which records the first moment of contact with the Spanish conquistadors about 1555, we will explore American nature writing up to the present. Description and interpretation of nature has shaped artistic representation from the very beginning of human history. We will look at indigenous narratives, at activist texts, and at writing and images from the Americas in relation to selected European works, moving from Crevecoeur’s “Letters from an American Farmer” (1765) to excerpts from Wordsworth’s “Prelude” in England (1798), which in turn influenced Emerson’s essay “Nature” (1836) and Thoreau’s writing in Walden and “Civil Disobedience” (1851). Twentieth century works include selections from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939); Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” (1962); and John McPhee’s “Encounters with the Archdruid” (1971). Painting, photography and films will be included, with images from the Hudson River School, photographs of National Parks, and contemporary environmental films. An essential element is the study of activist organizations alongside  international collaborations (COP27), the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and issues of environmental justice. Finally, we will both write and analyze contemporary environmental journalism, including Bill McKibben’s “The End of Nature” and Liz Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction.

Web Site Vergil
Department First-Year Seminar Program @Barnard
Enrollment 9 students (16 max) as of 9:05PM Friday, November 22, 2024
Subject First-Year Seminar
Number BC1763
Section 001
Division Barnard College
Open To Barnard College
Note Barnard 1st Year Students Only
Section key 20243FYSB1763X001