ENG 260 - American Environmental Literature

Concentrating mostly on essay and life writing, this course will investigate the development of a literature that both engages with and responds to the American environment from the early explorers to the most recent writers. Reading works from writers such as Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Mary Austin, and Terry Tempest Williams, and Jonathan Safran Foer, this course will examine the ways in which American writers have sought to understand and reflect the vital role nature plays in the construction of American personal, social, and national identity. In concert with these essays, we will also read theories of ecocriticism from William Cronon, Leo Marx, Carolyn Merchant, and others to advance our understanding of environmental criticism.

Credits 4

Compass Attributes
Structure/Power/Inequality, Taylor and Lane Scholars, Humanities