American Environmental Literature

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Welcome! In this course, we will consider key texts in American nature writing spanning from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first, paying close attention to how writers represent and engage with their natural environments. Thinking about how certain historical trends continue to influence our feelings towards, and understandings of, the natural world, we will explore different religious, economic, and political philosophies that have shaped and been shaped by various writers such as Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, Henry David Thoreau, Willia Cather, Lucille Clifton, Alexandra Kleeman, and others. We will also identify strategies that writers have used to address environmental questions by considering both the form and content of their works. Finally, through close reading, critical thinking, and analytical writing, we will investigate the extent to which literary and cultural forms shape the ways in which people see and relate to nature and the environment: that is, to the places where they live, work, travel, and the ways they understand themselves in relation to others and to the natural world.