ENGL 897 (M01) - Special Studies in Literature

Spc Stds/American Literature

Durham   Liberal Arts :: English
Credits: 4.0
Term: Fall 2022 - Full Term (08/29/2022 - 12/12/2022)
Grade Mode: Letter Grading
Class Size:   5  
CRN: 16282
A) Old English Literature; B) Medieval Literature; C) 16th Century; D) 17th Century; E) 18th Century; F) English Romantic Period; G) Victorian Period; H) 20th Century; I) Drama; J) Novel; K) Poetry; L) Nonfiction; M) American Literature; N) A Literary Problem; O) Literature of the Renaissance. The precise topics and methods of each section vary. Barring duplication of subject, may be repeated for credit. For details, see the course descriptions available in the English department.
Department Approval Required. Contact Academic Department for permission then register through Webcat.
Instructors: Brigitte Bailey

Times & Locations

Start Date End Date Days Time Location
8/29/2022 12/12/2022 TR 9:40am - 11:00am HS 107
Additional Course Details: 

Fall 2022 Course Details: Environmental Theory

How can we talk about environmental crisis? What words can we use to represent the natural world—and human interactions with it? Is it possible to describe nature without cultural projections? How can language change vision, policy, action? In this course, we will grapple with the urgent need to articulate environmental issues by reading contemporary critics who are inventing vocabularies to do so, such as Rob Nixon on “slow violence” and Stacy Alaimo on “trans-corporeality.” We’ll read 19th-21st century writers who write about different environments from different perspectives, shaped in part by race, gender, indigeneity, and class: Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Mary Austin, Rachel Carson, Barry Lopez, Evelyn White, Joy Harjo, and Octavia Butler. We’ll read ecocriticism by Carolyn Merchant, Elizabeth DeLoughrey, Bruno Latour, and Kimberly Ruffin. We’ll explore ecofeminism, environmental justice, postcolonial ecology, and the concept of the Anthropocene. Students taking 736 for Women’s Studies credit will write papers that focus on women writers or on gender and the environment. Writing intensive. Satisfies a post-1800 literature requirement for English majors. In fall 2022, this class fulfills a DH requirement for the TBD major. Students taking 897M will write a graduate-level research paper; students taking 897M for credit towards a Graduate Certificate in Feminist Studies will also write such a paper and will focus their written work on women writers, ecofeminist theory, or gender and the environment.