Eco-Identity: Representation in Nature

Catalog description

This course examines the histories and theories of visual and textual media from an ecocritical perspective, specifically focusing on how film, media, photography, literature, and visual art represent relationships between humans and nature. Beginning with settler colonialism and the frontier myth and ending with notions of queer ecology and the supercrip narrative, this course builds upon the canon of eco-arts through encompassing a range of perspectives and methodological approaches. By putting contemporary theories of nature and identity (race, gender, sexuality, disability, etc.) in conversation with art, students will gain a comprehensive view of how humans’ view of nature has shifted over time and who does or does not “fit” in nature according to the American public imaginary.