Fall 2019 - ENGL 465W D100
Topics in Critical Theory (4)
Class Number: 4659
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2019: Wed, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
Vancouver
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Instructor:
Margaret Linley
mlinley@sfu.ca
Office Hours: 4:30-5:30 pm
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Prerequisites:
ENGL 364. Reserved for English honours, major, joint major and minor students.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Advanced seminar in literary theory. May be repeated if a different topic is taught, though students who obtained credit for English 465W prior to Summer 2015 may not take this course for further credit. Students with credit for ENGL 465 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
COURSE DETAILS:
Critical Theory for a Different Planet
The world hasn’t ended, but the world as we know it has--even if we don’t quite know it yet. We imagine we still live on that old planet…It’s a different place. A different planet. It needs a new name. Eaarth. --Bill McKibben, 2011
Living with planetary ecological crisis is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Anthropogenic climate change, global warming, desertification, ocean acidification, extinction, endangered species, and biodiversity loss are not only scientific and political matters. The immensity of the calamity of environmental change requires new imaginaries, new visions of ecological relationality, and a wide-ranging exploration of the codependence of species and Earth systems. As the above quotations suggest, the difficulty of grasping climate change directly and a growing sense of collective danger invite us to rethink basic aspects of contemporary life and to explore humanity’s entanglements with non-human beings and environments.
This course is about how literary theory and criticism can help us think and feel what it means to live in the age of environmental crisis. Our approach will be through theoretical questions of what we value, as revealed through stories we tell, how we tell them, and to whom we tell them. We will analyze cultural frameworks shaping current theoretical narratives and information scenarios (presented in climate modeling and global diversity databases, for example) that use strategies of elegy, tragedy, epic, and even comedy to bring the crisis to public attention. Understanding narratives and symbols of decline, loss, catastrophe and especially hope is indispensible to advocacy, activism, and public engagement or environmental justice. But it is also essential to envisioning what it means to be human and to live in a rapidly changing world of diminishing resources, conflict, displacement, and environmental discrimmination (including gender bias, racism, and speciesism). Theoretical readings will grapple with - and often contest - terms and concepts such as the Anthropocene, deep time, the great acceleration, the nonhuman turn, new materialisms, and climate justice.
Grading
- Argument Summary 15%
- Position Paper 20%
- Seminar Presentation 15%
- Final Research Project (includes proposal, draft, and revision) 40%
- Preparation, attendance and active engagement in seminar 10%
REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance and participation in seminar 10%
Argument Summary 15% (500 words)
Position Paper 20% (800 words)
Seminar Presentation 15%
Final Research Project (10-12 pages) (includes proposal, draft, and revision) 40%
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Roy Scranton, Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of Civilization. City Light Books, 2015.
ISBN: 978-0-872866-690
RECOMMENDED READING:
Greg Garrard, Ecocriticism Routledge, 2012.
ISBN: 9780415667869
Department Undergraduate Notes:
IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.
For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS