INQ-120 | Human/Nature/Story

Full Title: Human/Nature: Person, Place, Story.

Topic Description:

“Human versus nature”: this is the traditional formulation of one of the central themes addressed in literary works. The phrasing suggests that the essential character of the relationship between human beings and the natural world is one of conflict. But is the shorthand “human versus nature” an accurate representation of all the ways writers have understood and represented their own and others’ relationship to nature? We will read various “nature writers” and philosophers whose texts chronicle and contemplate different human/nature relationships in order to reflect on our own beliefs and ideas about place, nature, and environment. What do we mean by “nature”? Is it possible for humans to live in concert with the natural world, or is conflict inevitable? What values should guide our relationship with the world around us, and what role do story and symbol play in exploring, cataloging and re(creating) our changing relationships with the natural world?

Counts as Global? No

Topic Approved: November 2009