FYS 66 Environmental Entanglements
This course explores contemporary US environmental entanglements by focusing on recent works of fiction, poetry, and multimedia that situate emergent ecological and bioscientific crises as the locus of cultural, political, and social conflict for low-income communities and communities of color. Although ecocriticism has historically overlooked multiethnic US literature and culture, artists, filmmakers, and writers from diverse backgrounds have been preoccupied with the contested terrain of the US built environment since the inception of the nation. More recently, these visionaries have moved beyond the preservationist framework of mainstream environmentalism to voice concerns about environmental issues ranging from climate change and species loss to factory farming and genetic modification. In negotiating these entanglements, we will address the following questions: if everyday experiences of life are intensely environmental, why, then, have certain experiences been privileged in writings about the environment? And, what environmental stories emerge from your encounters with the world as a student at Oxy as well as a resident of Los Angeles?