Ecological Thought

Catalog description

Ecological Thought engages participants in the work of cultural criticism through engagement with ecological worldviews. Where do our ideas about nature come from, and how do they limit our agency, or liberate our communities? From embodied perception to cultural construction, how do we interpret, inherit, revise and share the stories we tell about self, other, nature? To gain familiarity with critical theory in environmental context, students will focus on ‘nature writing’ through texts as diverse as the autobiography, Main Street, parks, environmental advocacy, ecotourism, and museum exhibits. This course emphasizes the development of communication skills, including application of concepts and tools in rhetoric and discourse to the creation and interpretation of traditional and contemporary environmental texts as well as visual forms, such as architecture and design, and new media.