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, ideologies and positions 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).

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

Course title: Writing ecologies. Positions, styles, media

There is no single way to be 'environmentalist', and no single way to communicate 'environmental(ist)' ideas. Two forms of self-styled environmental writing may be radically different in their position, ideology or form. Any given form of environmentalism, indeed, is always for someone (and against someone else) and is entrenched in social/political struggles and debates. At the same time 'environmental' communication is arguably everywhere, because every single social issue can be connected to or is embedded in environmental implications. It is therefore crucial to be able to recognize what an 'environmental' text is actually saying, with what political implications, and how.

Starting from those premises, the course will examine different types and styles of environmental writing and communication. We will be looking at essays, fiction, scientific, critical and technical writing in order to analyze the different discourses, rhetorics and approaches employed by authors from different cultures and ideological positions - from solarpunk to ecofascism. We will also consider 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.

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.

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

The exam 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 media/text of their choice, using the critical tools developed - and tackling the critical issues addressed - throughout the course. Students may choose to discuss a text among those introduced in class or propose one of their own.

To PASS, they will have to show that they are able to identify the position of the text as regards its environmental ideology, and to comment on the formal communicative/stylistic features that convey such position. They also need to show they have developed original critical thinking on the chosen text (especially important if they decide to work on texts already discussed in class), also through autonomous research. They also need to be able to engage with the issues and critical debates addressed in class with sufficient competence.

Lectures, class discussions. The course will lean towards a seminar-style, meaning that students will be required to read some texts each week and significant space will be dedicated to informal discussion and debate. The e-learning platform Moodle will be the main tool for communication and to share teaching materials.

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