University of Wisconsin Professor Greta Gaard teaching Cli-Fi related class this fall semester: ''Literature and Environmental Justice'' (English 228)

University of Wisconsin Professor Greta Gaard teaching Cli-Fi related class this fall semester: ''Literature and Environmental Justice'' (English 228)

Here is Dr Gaard's Fall 2015 syllabus for a course on ''Literature and Environmental Justice'' (English 228) which has just been updated so that it moves from Euro-Western environmentalisms, to environmental justice, and then to climate justice. In this shift, Dr Gaard has chosen Linda Hogan's early novel, Mean Spirit, which addresses oil colonialism in Oklahoma in the 1920s. She tells me in a recent email: "It is (not surprisingly) another amazing work blending the agony of colonialism, the anguish of the indigenous people / animals/ land / plants, and the strength, healing and hope provided by traditional indigenous culture and community."




She is also bridging that book with an excerpt from Ken Saro-Wiwa's writings, a film and article about the Alberta tar sands, and then a day spent on mining and environmental destruction in Saamiland.  Her target audience is composed of students with Nordic heritage, and she is bringing in their indigenous roots to see if this connection has any effect in fracking (!) the pervasive cultural racism in Wisconsin, she tells me.

To see the full syllabus for this very comprehensive class, do contact Professor Gaard.



As a side note, Dr Gaard added at the end of her email the other day: ''Thank you, Dan and your cli-fi team worldwide,  for your leadership in catalyzing the international community interested in cli-fi..."

REFERENCE:

 

Dr. Greta Gaard
Professor of English
Coordinator, Sustainability Faculty Fellows

University of Wisconsin, River Falls