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 and analyze 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 essays, fiction, 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. 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.

The materials used for the classes will be available entirely on Moodle. Text to be discussed in class include:

Ursula K. Le Guin, "The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction", 1986, any edition (available at: https://otherfutures.nl/uploads/documents/le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction.pdf )
Adam Flynn, "Solarpunk: Notes towards a manifesto", 2014 (available at: https://hieroglyph.asu.edu/2014/09/solarpunk-notes-toward-a-manifesto/ ).
Andrew Dana Hudson, "On the Political Dimensions of Solarpunk", 2015 (available at: https://medium.com/solarpunks/on-the-political-dimensions-of-solarpunk-c5a7b4bf8df4 )
Garrett Hardin, "Lifeboat Ethics", 1974 (available at: https://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_lifeboat_ethics_case_against_helping_poor.html )
Andreas Malm, How to blow up a pipeline, 2021, Verso (selection).
Werner Herzog, Grizzly Man, 2005 (selection).
Kurtzgesagt, "We will fix climate change", 2022 (available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxgMdjyw8uw )
Philosophy Tube, "Climate Grief", 2019 (available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqCx9xU_-Fw )
Jack London, "To Build a Fire", 1908, any edition (available at: https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/to-build-a-fire.pdf )

Optional readings:
Greg Garrard, Ecocriticism, 2012, Routledge (selection).
Mark Bould, The Anthropocene Unconscious, 2021, Verso (selection)
Büscher and Fletcher, The Conservation Revolution, 2020, Verso (selection)
Wagner and Wieland, Almanac for the Anthropocene, 2022, West Virginia University Press (selection).

The exam will will consist of a final essay (3000 words; exact topic/approach 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 among those discussed in class, using the critical tools developed throughout the course. Regarding the choice of topic, deviations from the texts discussed in class (for instance, alternative examples of environmental writing) are acceptable, but must be discussed with the professor first.

Those students that are not able to attend the classes are advised to read all the materials on moodle, and to read ONE text of the optional bibliography in full. The latter will be agreed with the professor at the same time as the discussion of the essay topic.

Lectures, class discussions, onlione activities. 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