Course Syllabus

TLIT 237: Introduction to Literature and Environment

Professor: Dr. Ellen Bayer

Distance Learning Course (Asynchronous) / Autumn 2021

Contact Info and Office Hours

You can best reach me via Canvas email. If you send an email to my UW email address, it is possible that I won't see it in a timely manner, so please use Canvas email. Note that UW does not permit faculty to respond to students who use non-UW email addresses.

Note that I respond to email once or twice per day, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. 

Office hours are by appointment and held using Zoom. If you would like to meet with me, please email me a few days/times you're available between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday, and we'll find a time that works for us both. 

Course Description

This course will explore and probe the concepts of “nature,” “environment,” “wilderness,” and "wildness" across a range of literary texts produced by a variety of voices. The definitions are more nuanced than one might expect, and we will find that each of us understands these concepts differently. To refine our focus, we will pay particular attention to the various ways culture and identity shape one's relationship with the natural world. In addition to encountering literary expressions of human relationships with the natural world, we will also turn inward and reflect on our own place in this conversation. Our discussions will consider the cultural, social, economic, political, personal, and ethical factors that shape these perspectives. The assigned anthology of nature writing will serve as our entry point to broader discussions of environmental concerns. The selected assigned readings will create opportunities to interrogate the term "nature writing" and help us to work toward a broader understanding of how humans engage with the more-than-human world.  

Learning Objectives

This course gives you practical experience that will help you to achieve the learning outcomes outlined for the Arts, Media, and Culture major:

• You will cultivate insight unique to human beings and will be able to identify and explain interrelations among texts of apparently disparate discourses: literature, film and visual arts.
• You will acquire the interpretive skills necessary to analyze individual texts closely and critically.
• You will understand the importance of history and culture as they shape and are in turn shaped by arts and media.
• You will be able to express the knowledge and experience described in the items listed above in clear, concise and persuasive writing.

(See http://www.tacoma.uw.edu/interdisciplinary-arts-and-sciences/arts-media-and-culture-amc-major) 

These outcomes are applicable across a range of majors, and this course asks you to explore how the critical reading, thinking, and writing skills that you practice here will inform your work in other contexts.

Course Format

This course is fully remote and asynchronous, which means we won't meet in person, nor will we meet via Zoom at a specified time. Instead, you will have rolling due dates throughout each week for completing assigned readings, submitting discussion posts, replying to peers, and completing other coursework. Most work will be due no later than 11:59 p.m. on the specified due date. Take a look at the Deadlines for Discussion Posts and Replies to see when you can generally expect to submit work for this course. 

Resources

For information on other campus and student resources, including UWT Policies, the Academic Calendar, Disability and Support Services, the Library, Campus Safety, and more, visit: The e-Syllabus: Campus Information, Resources, Policies and Expectations page.

Required Text

You will need to purchase or gain access to the required course textbook: 

• The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World. Deming and Savoy, eds. Milkweed Editions, 2011. 

The required textbook is available in hard copy at the UWT bookstore, and you can also find used copies online. It's also available as an ebook directly from the publisher for $10.99.

You can also access the ebook for free through the UW library system. If you're off campus, you'll need to log in to your UWT account to access the library's online copy. 

Course Requirements

You must complete these assignments for the course. I do not give alternate assignments under any circumstances. The grade that you earn in this course comes directly from the grades that you earn on these assignments. I will provide detailed guidelines for each assignment. 

• Discussions (30%) Class discussion is the cornerstone of this course. For each assigned reading, you will develop a response to a discussion question, and you will reply to at least two classmates' posts. I will drop your two lowest discussion scores. 
• Discussion Facilitation (20%) The facilitation assignment gives you the opportunity to shape the discussion and take on the leadership role for your small group of peers. You will develop a series of discussion questions for one day's assigned reading and then respond to your group of peers. 
• Nature Essay (25%) After spending a quarter reading a variety of nature essays, you will have the opportunity to add your voice to the conversation. You'll develop a personal essay that explores your own relationship to the natural world through the lens of culture and identity. 
• Final Exam (25%) The final exam will consist of a series of short essays. The exam will ask you to demonstrate what you've learned over the quarter by developing three short essays that compare course texts in light of a set of course-related themes and topics. 

Late Work Policy

Submitting your work on time is a key skill that you will take forward with you out into the work force, and it's important to hone that skill now. The penalty for submitting late work is not intended to be punitive; instead, it serves as a framework to ensure that you stay on track with your coursework so that you're in position to complete all course requirements by the end of the quarter. 

Discussions and replies to peers' posts are due by the posted deadline. Since it's difficult to have a conversation if not everyone participates in a timely manner, there is no exception to the deadline for discussions. If you have extenuating circumstances and need a little extra time, please contact me in advance to make arrangements. Note that this should be only under extenuating circumstances and should not be a recurring issue. Remember that I drop your two lowest discussion scores, so it's fine to miss two. If you're going to miss a third discussion due to extenuating circumstances, contact me in advance to arrange an extension.  

Note that I can't give extensions on the rough draft of your Nature Essay, since you will need to submit it on time in order to participate in a peer review workshop. If you need a little additional time to submit your final draft, please speak to me about an extension. If you fail to make arrangements with me for an extension, your final draft will receive a 10-point deduction for each day it is late. 

Due to the nature of the Facilitation assignment, you must be prepared to facilitate on your assigned date. There is no room for rescheduling, so failure to facilitate on your assigned date will result in a zero on the assignment. There are no exceptions to this. 

I can grant a very short extension on the final exam if you make arrangements with me in advance. Note that the maximum amount of extension time will be 24 hours, and you must make arrangements with me in advance. Failure to submit by that hard deadline will result in a zero on the assignment. 

UW Policies, Expectations, Support, and Resources

As a student at UW Tacoma, you are responsible for making yourself familiar with the University's policies. Please take some time to look closely at UWT's Policies and Expectations. This website also offers information about the wide range of support and resources available to you as a student at UWT. 

 

Tentative Schedule

I expect you to complete the entire reading assignment for each class meeting and to be an active reader. As an active reader, you will read each text closely and carefully, and you will annotate each assigned reading. Please select a passage from each day’s reading about which you might pose a question, make a comment, or write about in an informal, in-class writing assignment. Be prepared to share your ideas, responses, and questions with your classmates.

Note on trigger warnings: Note that you may find some of the material covered in the assigned readings to be disturbing. Given the vast range of triggers that the assigned readings may contain, I don’t give blanket trigger warnings, but I will provide them on an individual basis if requested. If you have concerns about course material serving as a trigger for you, please see me, and I will be happy to give you warning(s) for material that could potentially be a trigger for you.

Plan to complete the readings by the dates listed below. 

W 9/29: Introduction to the Course / Complete Intro Modules and Activities on Canvas 

M 10/4  How to Conduct Analysis (Lectures on Canvas); Nature, Wilderness, Wildness, Environment (Activity and Discussion on Canvas) 

W 10/6 Evelyn White, "Black Women and the Wilderness" (available on Canvas)

Note: all course readings moving forward are in the assigned textbook, The Colors of Nature

M 10/11 Lauret E. Savoy and Alison H. Deming, "Widening the Frame;" AND Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, "Crossing Boundaries"

W 10/13 J. Drew Lanham, "Hope and Feathers: A crisis in birder identification" AND brief video interview with Christian Cooper, of the Central Park Birding Incident AND the video of the Birding Incident 

M 10/18 Faith Adiele, "Notes on the New World;" AND Melissa Nelson, "Becoming Métis" 

W 10/20 Fred Arroyo, "Working in a Region of Lost Names"

M 10/25 Yusef Komunyakaa, "Dark Waters"

W 10/27 Al Young, "Silent Parrot Blues"

M 11/1 Robin Wall Kimmerer, "Learning the Grammar of Animacy" 

W 11/3 Enrique Salmon, "Sharing Breath: Some Links Between Land, Plants, and People"

M 11/8 Joseph Bruchac, "At the End of Ridge Road: from a nature journal"

W 11/10 Nalini Nadkarni, "A Tapestry of Browns and Greens"

M 11/15 Debra Kang Dean, "In the Valley of Its Saying" 

W 11/17 David Mas Masumoto, "Belonging to the Land"

M 11/22 bell hooks, "earthbound: on solid ground" AND Louis Owens, "Burning the Shelter" 

W 11/24 Gary Paul Nabhan, "Listening for the Ancient Tones, Watching for Sign, Tasting for the Mountain Thyme" 

M 11/29 Rough Draft of Nature Essay Due

W 12/1 Peer Review Workshop for Nature Essay

M 12/6 Work Day: Revise Nature Essays

W 12/8 Final Draft Nature Essay Due

W 12/15 Final Exam Due

Note: I will announce any changes to the schedule and/or syllabus on the Announcements page. 

Here's an audio overview of the Syllabus: