ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING

This is a second-year course addressed to students of the Master’s Degree in Environmental Humanities who are not required to take the Italian language class. Its aim is to provide critical tools to analyze the different languages of environmentalism, across a broad spectrum of different media.

Students will have to get acquainted with different forms of environmental writing and communication, as well as different ideologies, philosophies and political stances connected to environmental issues. Students will develop their skills to recognize, analyze, and produce different types of environmental communication. Finally, they will have to develop skills in oral (through class discussions) and written communication (for the purpose their final essay/project).

Advanced reading, speaking and writing knowledge of English (B2).

The course will examine different types and styles of environmental (and anti-environmental) writing and communication. We will be looking at journalism, essays, fiction, poetry, copy writing, social media, scientific, critical and technical writing in order to analyze the different discourses, rhetorics, approaches employed by authors from different cultures and ideological positions. We will also consider films, documentaries and videos to interrogate the specifics of visual communication in engaging with environmentalism, as well as videogames to discuss the characteristics of interactive media that tackle environmental issues. We will also look at some classics of ‘nature writing’ to see how environmental communication has changed over time. We will hear directly and learn from guest speakers with experience in scientific and environmental communication, and we will engage in some writing and communication exercises of our own to try our hand at this fundamental component of the environmental humanities.

The materials used for the classes will be available entirely on Moodle.

Students will have the opportunity to propose texts and media to be analysed in class, so that the materials employed in the course reflect their interests in terms of environmental communication and writing.

The exam will be based on a continuous assessment system and a final project or essay (to be discussed in advance with the professor). In the essay, students will have to critically analyze a piece of (anti-)environmental media/text of their choice using the critical tools developed throughout the course; should they choose the project instead, students will have to engage in a creatve production/activity that engages with environmental issues and language.

Non-attending students will be required to read additional texts and readings to be integrated into the final essay/project. These will be agreed with the professor at the same time as the discussion of the essay/project topic.

Lectures, class discussions, online activities. Students will be asked to prepare some materials beforehand. Guest speakers will be invited.

English

The final grade is pass/fail (idoneità).

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Climate change and energy" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development