Imagining Nature

Description

Who gets to speak for nature? This course explores the long history of environmental writing in the context of the complex relationship between European and Indigenous North American traditions. We will not just survey environmental literature; we will inquire into the pressures under which contemporary ideas of nature evolved from a colonial past. Students will learn about the history of representing other-than-human actors in the world--including Indigenous ways of knowing--and how this history can help us envision new, shared relationships with the natural world.