Reading Earth: Contemporary Environmental Literature

TITLE:

Reading Earth: Contemporary Environmental Literature

GRANT RECIPIENTS:

Michael Hettich– English/Communication – Wolfson Campus
mhettich@mdc.edu

ABSTRACT:

Throughout its history, American literature has been well represented by “environmental” writers. These writers might in fact be called the fundamental American voices. This environmental strain in our literature is perhaps at its strongest point today. “Reading Earth: Contemporary Environmental Literature” will focus on a close reading of some of the most vital and engaging examples of contemporary American environmental literature from the standpoint of their value as literary texts that extend the range and focus of this essential strain in our literature. In addition, through collaborations with The Florida Center for the Literary Arts and The Earth Ethics Institute, guest lecturers will be presented and at least two field excursions will be taken.

I believe this course will be innovative and valuable for a number of reasons:
--Many students, it seems to me, find the study of literature to be insular in its subjects and focus, ill equipped to help them deal with the “real” world. Such students might be awakened to the value (and excitement) of literary study if they were introduced to work that has both “literary” and “practical” application and that articulates clear issues and arguments through the multi-layered, nuanced sensibility of literature. Even those students who normally shun literary study might be shown the value of the kind of critical thinking we do when we study literature. They would thus be given intellectual tools they might otherwise lack, and would be given room to think for themselves in response to nuanced writing and thinking;
--this course will introduce students to a central strain of American literary, intellectual and cultural history and demonstrate the vitality of this kind of writing in contemporary literature;
--this course will deepen students’ sense of some of the central themes of American literature and thus allow them to more fully understand its sources and meanings—and thus the “soul” of our nation;
--this course will train students to think critically and creatively about literature as well as issues and ideas that are supremely pertinent to their lives;
--this course will allow for serious, non-partisan discussion of issues relating to the “environment” and will respond to a real lack of environmental study in their educations;
--this course will introduce students to some of the complex environmental issues facing our country today; furthermore, through its field trips it will put students face-to-face with some of the local places under threat;
--this course will allow students to meet some environmental writers as well as some botanists and field researchers;
-this course will introduce students to the concept of bioregion and allow them to understand more about our own bioregion; it will also teach them about the interrelated nature of systems within bioregion;
--this course will foster “multi-disciplinary” thinking as it engages with literature and science, allowing students to become more creative in their thinking and better equipped to deal with “real world” issues;
-this course will foster creativity in class assignments and projects;
-this course will (hopefully) give students a sense of “purpose” within the study of literature, thus making literature meaningful to them;
--this course will foster debate and interest about environmental issues and an appreciation for the complex, interrelated nature of the world.

PROJECT SUMMARY:

Although originally intended to be taught as a literature course (Lit 2190) during the Spring Semester of 2006, and though I advertised widely during fall of 2005 (with help from the Earth Ethics Institute), enrollment was too low for the class to run in that semester. Instead, I taught Reading Earth during the Summer A semester of 2006, as a subject-specific ENC 1102 class. This change in semester necessitated certain changes in the class, none of which compromised the success of the project to any great extent, and some of which actually benefited the overall experience for my students.

The first change was in response to the length of the semester itself. I had originally intended to use six full texts, and to supplement those texts with additional handouts; when I realized I would have only six weeks to accomplish my course objectives, though, I decided to teach from an anthology instead of using individual texts. While the anthology was excellent and provided a more thorough overview of the themes and developments I intended to discuss with my students, their thorough engagement with specific texts—and our in-class analysis of those texts—was obviously compromised. Overall, though, I feel that my students did gain a thorough overview of many of the essential writers in the tradition of environmental literature, and they were effectively exposed to the central thematic currents and influences within the literature of environmental consciousness.

The second change in plans necessitated by the change in course designation/semester had to do with the fact that ENC 1102 requires that students write a fully-documented research paper, which is not a requirement in the literature class (although substantial papers are, of course). Although I had to spend more time than I would have liked in teaching students how to do research and write a paper in M.L.A. style, the fact that they all had to write focused, carefully-researched papers of at least 10 pages on an “environmental” topic was immensely beneficial. Because ENC 1102 is not strictly a literature course, I allowed students to tackle non-text based research papers—which was, I think, immensely beneficial to them. Papers included a study of coral bleaching in the Keys, research on sharks, recycling, wildlife conservation, and a host of other interesting and relevant topics.

Finally, one truly beneficial change in semester had to do with the extended class meeting times in the six week semester. Because our class met for 3.5 hours, we had ample time for field trips—which would not have been the case if we had met during the longer semester. Since it was the field trips that really distinguished this class, I am very pleased we were forced to make that change

Overall, I was extremely pleased with the results of Reading Earth. All of the students benefited from the readings, discussions, guest lectures, videos, field trips, and writing they completed for the class. The field trips, particularly the bay immersion at Crandon Park, were inspirational to the students, many of whom had never experienced anything like it, though they’d lived in South Florida all their lives. The support we received from the Earth Ethics Institute, which set up and paid for these trips, was invaluable. Chris Migliaccio, who helped recruit interested students and presented a lecture on novels with an environmental outlook, also contributed a great deal to the success of this project.

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PROJECT RESULTS:

The results of this project were excellent. Students learned a great deal about the environment in general and South Florida in particular; they also learned about the tradition of environmental literature, particularly as it has developed in the U.S. Even more importantly, perhaps, they got out into nature in two extremely successful field trips (see CD of photos). Both field trips were organized and funded by the Earth Ethics Institute. In the first trip, they took a naturalist-led boat trip from Bayside out into Biscayne bay and then up the Miami River. The second trip was an immersion into the shallow waters off Key Biscayne, led by two naturalists. Here, students were given nets and buckets to collect fauna of the bay (see “Reading Earth” photos), which were then closely examined and discussed by the naturalists. We were then provided with a picnic lunch, courtesy of EEI. Among the creatures netted were seahorses, sea robins, urchins, sea cucumbers and many other creatures. This was a truly magical experience for everyone involved, full of learning and fun. The class bonded on these trips as well. Their sense of place, their love for this place, was deepened as well.

In addition to these experiences, we took a number of short field trips around the city and to Bayfront Park, and Chris Migliaccio presented a lecture on environmentally-focused novels. Since we had over three hours of meeting time, we watched a number of excellent videos, including THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION and William McDonough’s keynote lecture at last year’s Tropical Green conference.

The course was a pleasure to teach.

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PLANS FOR DISSEMINATION:

I intend to teach this course again, either as a literature course or as an ENC 1102.

The Earth Ethics Institute has information concerning this course, as well as some of the pictures taken on our field trips, on its web site.

I have shared the project idea and approach to my colleagues in the English Department.

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