Teaching Responsibility
LJMU Schools involved in Delivery:
Humanities and Social Science
Learning Methods
Lecture
Seminar
Workshop
Module Offerings
6125ENGL-SEP-MTP
Aims
1.To explore how Victorian writers responded to environmental change across a range of genres including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and writing for children.
2. To understand some of the key historical and intellectual developments that shaped debates about the natural world in the Victorian period, and to connect these with contemporary environmental concerns.
3. To consolidate and extend students’ understanding of key theories and debates within the environmental humanities.
Learning Outcomes
1.
Critically evaluate how the Victorians responded to environmental change across a range of genres.
2.
Communicate and personally reflect upon the relationship between Victorian environmental issues and current environmental concerns.
3.
Apply key terms and debates from the environmental humanities to Victorian texts.
Module Content
Outline Syllabus:
1. Writing and reading in the Anthropocene [excerpt from The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells].
2. The end of pastoral? [Cousin Phillis]
3. RevisitingBrontë country [Shirley
]4. Early Victorian environmentalism [periodical texts on the fern craze; early debates about pollution, depletion of the natural environmental, green space in the city].
5. Ruskin, Morris, and the aesthetics of resistance [excerpts from works by John Ruskin and William Morris]
6. Darwin and ecology [excerpts from On the Origin of Species]
7. Hardy 1: Tess of the D’Urbervilles [ecofeminism]
8. Beasts of Burden [Black Beauty and animal studies]
9. Hardy 2 [selection of animal poems]
10. After London [apocalyptic thinking and the post-human]
11. Conclusion
Indicative texts: This will vary depending on the teaching team, but may include the following: excerpt from David Wallace-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth;Elizabeth Gaskell,Cousin Phillis; Charlotte Brontë, Shirley; excerpts from texts by John Ruskin and William Morris; periodical texts on the fern craze; Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles; Anna Sewell, Black Beauty; poetry by Hardy; Richard Jefferies, After London.
1. Writing and reading in the Anthropocene [excerpt from The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells].
2. The end of pastoral? [Cousin Phillis]
3. RevisitingBrontë country [Shirley
]4. Early Victorian environmentalism [periodical texts on the fern craze; early debates about pollution, depletion of the natural environmental, green space in the city].
5. Ruskin, Morris, and the aesthetics of resistance [excerpts from works by John Ruskin and William Morris]
6. Darwin and ecology [excerpts from On the Origin of Species]
7. Hardy 1: Tess of the D’Urbervilles [ecofeminism]
8. Beasts of Burden [Black Beauty and animal studies]
9. Hardy 2 [selection of animal poems]
10. After London [apocalyptic thinking and the post-human]
11. Conclusion
Indicative texts: This will vary depending on the teaching team, but may include the following: excerpt from David Wallace-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth;Elizabeth Gaskell,Cousin Phillis; Charlotte Brontë, Shirley; excerpts from texts by John Ruskin and William Morris; periodical texts on the fern craze; Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles; Anna Sewell, Black Beauty; poetry by Hardy; Richard Jefferies, After London.
Module Overview:
This module explores how Victorian writers responded to environmental changes. It examines key historical and intellectual developments shaping debates about the natural world in the Victorian period; you consider links between the historical past and current modes of environmentalism.
This module explores how Victorian writers responded to environmental changes. It examines key historical and intellectual developments shaping debates about the natural world in the Victorian period; you consider links between the historical past and current modes of environmentalism.
Additional Information:
Green Victorians explores how Victorian writers responded to environmental changes. It examines key historical and intellectual developments shaping debates about the natural world in the Victorian period and encourages students to make links between the historical past and current modes of environmentalism. Students will be introduced to scholarship at the intersection of Victorian studies and the environmental humanities.
Green Victorians explores how Victorian writers responded to environmental changes. It examines key historical and intellectual developments shaping debates about the natural world in the Victorian period and encourages students to make links between the historical past and current modes of environmentalism. Students will be introduced to scholarship at the intersection of Victorian studies and the environmental humanities.