LALW221 Writing Climate Change: Stories of Apocalyptic Weather 3cr.

Devastating weather events have created a new genre of environmental writing. In May of 2013 an
Oklahoma tornado was 2.6 miles wide, the widest in history, devastating an entire section of the
city. Another tornado had winds of 301 mph, the highest ever recorded for any weather event.
Stories of disappearing glaciers and vanishing rivers do not f t easily into the tradition of
nature writing. The contemporary environmental essay combines personal narrative, research
(and/or reportage), and concepts from philosophy or science. At the same time, climate deniers
ignore the scientif c consensus that human activities are indeed the source of these
disparate weather-related events and disappearing species. Through readings and f lms students will
explore the tradition of environmental writing and how storytelling has changed during the
climate change debate of the last two decades. Among other assignments students will write two
essays in the form of the contemporary environmental essay, which will integrate
storytelling, personal ref ection, and concepts from philosophy or science. Students will also
debate both sides of the polarized climate debate. {Formerly titled Environmental
Writing:Era of Climate Change]

Prerequisites: LALW200

Lecture
Sustainabilty Content
Spring