AJ14155 Local/Global Environments

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2019
Extent and Intensity
0/20/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Lenka Filipová, Ph.D. (lecturer), Mgr. Martina Horáková, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. Veronika Bosáková (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ01002 Practical English II
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 14 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/14, only registered: 0/14, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/14
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 12 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course will explore relations of particular places and global systems in environmentalism from the 1960s, i.e. the time of the emergence of the green movement, until the present. We will examine a variety of images and texts including novels, essays and cultural theory and discuss what different ‘cultures of nature’ can be discerned when working with different histories, genres and art forms from across the globe. While looking at how notions of both ‘nature’ and place are represented and dramatized in selected narratives, we will be concerned with some of the key theoretical and conceptual issues underpinning the field of both environmental and postcolonial studies. What, after all, do we mean when we speak of ‘nature’ and ‘the environment’? Whose environment, and who gets to speak? We will explore the often closely intertwined issues of environmental degradation and colonialism and look at how unstable notions of ‘ecology’ and ‘conservation’ can be engaged from the Global South. While discussing these issues, we will also consider what questions of slow violence, deep time and the non-human do to literary form. Reading will include (extracts from) work by Wendell Berry, Andrew McMurry, Gary Snyder, William Cronon, Ursula Heise, David Harvey, Rob Nixon, Amitav Ghosh, Kim Scott, Deborah Bird Rose, and Stephen Muecke.
Learning outcomes
The course will explore relations of particular places and global systems in environmentalism from the 1960s, i.e. the time of the emergence of the green movement, until the present. We will examine a variety of images and texts including novels, essays and cultural theory and discuss what different ‘cultures of nature’ can be discerned when working with different histories, genres and art forms from across the globe. While looking at how notions of both ‘nature’ and place are represented and dramatized in selected narratives, we will be concerned with some of the key theoretical and conceptual issues underpinning the field of both environmental and postcolonial studies. What, after all, do we mean when we speak of ‘nature’ and ‘the environment’? Whose environment, and who gets to speak? We will explore the often closely intertwined issues of environmental degradation and colonialism and look at how unstable notions of ‘ecology’ and ‘conservation’ can be engaged from the Global South. While discussing these issues, we will also consider what questions of slow violence, deep time and the non-human do to literary form. Reading will include (extracts from) work by Wendell Berry, Andrew McMurry, Gary Snyder, William Cronon, Ursula Heise, David Harvey, Rob Nixon, Amitav Ghosh, Kim Scott, Deborah Bird Rose, and Stephen Muecke.
Teaching methods
mini-lectures, group and class discussions
Assessment methods
Assessment: active participation in class discussions and activities (only one missed session will be allowed), final essay (100%).
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught: in blocks.
Note related to how often the course is taught: April 23-26, 2019, G316.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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