My Spring 2008 section of English 1A will focus on global warming, nature, and the environment. This should allow us to have lively discussions about an urgent issue that affects all of us as we work on college writing skills. We will look at global warming from scientific, political, economic, philosophical and personal angles as we examine how globalization, race and class, climate science, technology, and the American lifestyle factor into this complex topic. Here is the intro from the course flyer you may see around campus:

"Scientists agree that the climate is changing, but how bad is it going to be? Will there be a wave of hurricanes, floods, droughts, extinctions? Will coastal cities and islands be covered by the sea? Whose fault is it? Can technology fix it? What should we do as individuals, if anything? Does this mean America needs to rethink its relationship with the environment and its use of natural resources? If so, how?"

Texts: We will use The Rough Guide to Climate Change as a source for background information on global warming, and we will read Elizabeth Kolbert's excellent series of essays, Field Notes from a Catastrophe, for a tour of the effects of warming around the globe. Then we will turn to Henry David Thoreau's classic Walden or, Life in the Woods for some perspective on American literary and intellectual approaches to the environment. In addition, I have put together a customized Mercury Reader for this class with related essays, stories, and poems.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about the course.