The climate apocalypse is no longer the stuff of science fiction. How do literature and cinema represent the end of the world when the world is ending now? Which stories are most helpful to make sense and raise public awareness of environmental issues and the social and racial inequality they perpetuate? What solutions or responses do these fictions advance in the face of this unprecedented predicament?

We will examine a diverse range of contemporary textual and visual artworks to explore how art can reinforce or unsettle traditional perceptions of Nature and the configurations of power that support them. This course will give you interpretive skills for engaging a variety of literary works from different genres—poetic, fictional, cinematic, artistic, and philosophical—and will prepare you for other Humanities courses.

Course Requirements:

Course requirements include brief writing assignments; a final project; engaged class presence and participation. 

Intended Audience:

This course is accessible to all undergraduate students at all levels, including both those majoring in the natural sciences as well as non-science majors. Students who are interested in environmental issues are encouraged to take this class.