LI 217 - Literature, Culture, and the Environment

Credits: 4 credits

Examines the literature, art, and culture of Native and non-Native America and consider how these two very different traditions have affected the environment. Initially, students focus on Native Creation stories and on Genesis in order to better understand the definition of “wilderness.” They then study the work of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century authors and artists who influenced and/or responded to how the environment should be managed. As students progress to the 20th and 21st centuries, they consider the work of artists, writers, and filmmakers who acknowledge and attempt to come to terms with a drastically changed and oftentimes degraded landscape in their work.

Fulfills the Literary Perspective.