Investigation of selected authors, topics, or problems. Variable subject matter; see departmental announcement for description.

“Simply defined, ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment. Just as feminist criticism examines language and literature from a gender-conscious perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its reading of texts, ecocriticism takes an earth-centered approach to literary studies.” (Cheryl Glotfelty) In this course we will explore ecocritical and ecotheoretical and ecophilosophical texts and their application to Scandinavian literature and culture. Consideration will be given to how such concepts as nature and wilderness, animal and human, are defined at different historical moments in both literary and theoretical texts. Is Scandinavia a special case, and if so, how? How does art confront the threat of environmental catastrophe? Class organization and grading Participation: reading and discussing assigned works for that day Short presentations: individual students will be assigned to present briefly on works, authors, or concepts, creating handouts when necessary (10 minutes) Paper draft presentation: students will present plans for their seminar paper (15-20 minutes) Seminar paper

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