English 200 is intended to encourage and develop practices of critical interpretation in the reading of literature. The environmental justice movement will operate as a critical framework for our reading, discussions and writing this quarter. Students will be expected to develop a firm grasp of the main problems, tensions, and questions that exist within this political and cultural tradition, and then enter into this critical discussion in their own writing.

In recent years (with issues of global warming, the energy crisis, etc. receiving attention in mainstream culture and within the university), there has been a growing interest in thinking the relationships between environment and culture. Consequently, a critical movement termed ‘ecocriticism’ is a growing and active field within English departments around the country. With this in mind, our main focus in this course will be on the ways in which non-fiction writing, fiction, and poetry of the 20th century depicts the relationship between environmentalism and other movements calling for social justice and racial equality.

Note: This course fulfills a ‘W’ credit. Students will write two 5-7 page papers over the course of the quarter, and will be required to revise their writing based on instructor and peer feedback. This class is primarily discussion based and daily participation will constitute a significant amount of the total grade.

Possible primary texts include:
John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierras
Chesnutt, Charles W. , The Conjure Woman Tales
Silko, Leslie Marmon, Ceremony
Yamashita, Karen Tai, Through the Arc of the Rainforest
Williams, Terry Tempest, Refuge
Kim Stanley Robinson, Forty Days of Rain