Woman, Nature, and Consciousness

Professor Glynis Carr
Spring Semester 1999
Office: 207C Vaughan Literature Building
Office Hours: M, W, F 11-12 and by appointment
Phone: 524-3118 (Office); 524-1553 (Myrna Treston, secretary)
523-7487 (Home, not after 7 PM)
gcarr@bucknell.edu

Required Texts: Available at campus bookstore

• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
• Susan Griffin, Woman and Nature
• Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature
• Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, Ecofeminism
• Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres
• Joy Kogawa, Obasan
• Naomi Wolf, Promiscuities

Course Description and Objectives:

Ecofeminism is a practical political movement addressing a broad range of urgent social and political problems, from pollution, health, and species extinction to economic development, militarism, racism, and sexual violence. Like all environmentalists, feminist ecologists are concerned with human relationships to the natural world and intent on discovering relationships--among human beings as well as between humans and non-human nature--that contribute to a healing, or healthy, planet. Ecofeminists differ from other environmentalists in their emphasis on the ways that "nature" has been envisioned as female (or feminine), the parallel and mutually reinforcing oppression of women and nature, and the ways that environmental problems and issues specifically affect women. Ecofeminists have various--and often conflicting--commitments to liberal, cultural, socialist, indigenous, and postmodern feminist theories.

This course has three major objectives: (1) to read widely in the ecofeminist literature; (2) to understand differences among the major feminist approaches to environmental issues; (3) to develop feminist ecocritical approaches to works of literature and art. As a senior capstone seminar, this course is also committed to the major learning objectives of the "Common Learning Agenda":

• Integrating compartmentalized disciplinary knowledge and multiple perspectives. The dynamics of ecofeminism are not easily comprehended along traditional disciplinary lines. Our course materials are drawn from a variety of disciplines and frequently blur the boundaries between science and religion, philosophy and literature, art and politics.
• Understanding relationships between our natural and fabricated worlds.
• Developing international and multicultural perspectives. I have selected course materials that represent diversity of races, nations, classes, and sexual orientations among ecofeminist women and men.
• Fostering personal reflectiveness and moral discernment. The issues addressed by feminist environmentalists are frequently charged with moral significance. Is it right to eat animals? Should human beings see ourselves as "stewards" of the environment, or is this an inherently arrogant attitude that inevitably leads to environmental destruction? Can we solve environmental problems without addressing issues of racism? Is the middle-class lifestyle of the west desirable or is it the root of environmental evil? And so on.
• Fostering creativity. Students are of course encouraged to take creative approaches to thinking about course issues. The final project will be designed by students; final projects may involve the creation of art.
• Nurturing independent and collaborative learning. We will work both singly and together: discussing, writing, engaging in fieldwork, responding to each others' work, and developing methods to generate and evaluate knowledge.
• Creating a holistic, supportive community of mutual respect. Ecofeminists consistently criticize hierarchical social organization. Such domination by race, sex, class, and nation, are seen as ills in themselves, as well as practices that contribute to ecological crisis. In contrast, we will strive to create a learning environment characterized by mutuality, listening to each other with respect, affirming each others' dignity and worth. Among our goals shall be to value free expression and to learn to disagree productively.

"Woman, Nature, and Consciousness" counts toward the capstone for Women's Studies majors as well as for the Common Learning Agenda. It is also a W-2 course. We will write frequently (at least every week), in and out of class, and treat writing as a process. Papers will be written in multiple drafts and students will receive feedback from me and from each other. Finally, for M.A. students in English, this course fulfills the theory requirement.

Class Format, Assignments, and Evaluation:

Attendance and Participation. The heart and soul of any seminar is cooperative and collegial discussion. Your job is to immerse yourself in the material and come to class prepared to share your original ideas, questions, and understandings. Because this is an interdisciplinary course to which students bring a variety of disciplinary perspectives, it is especially important to share our different points of view and concerns. Only then can the cross-fertilization of ideas that a course of this kind is designed to produce occur.

A note on preparation for class. The quality of any seminar is determined by the quality of engagement of its members. It should go without saying that you should complete all readings BEFORE class is scheduled to meet. You should also complete your journal-writing assignment, outlined below, which will prepare you to participate in discussion. Don't allow me (via my design of the course and selection of common reading) to control your sense of the field. Read on your own, pursuing your own interests and bringing new insights and resources back to the whole group. There is a wealth of informative and provocative ecofeminist writing that couldn't be placed on the syllabus. A selected bibliography will be distributed in class. Also, explore fields related to feminist and environmental studies: biology and the other natural sciences, history, economics, sociology, psychology, literature, philosophy, and cultural criticism, to name only a few.

Journals. Each week, students are expected to submit some writing in response to the assigned readings for class. Weekly journals should demonstrate that you have done the reading and given it some thought. There is no length requirement for this assignment; weekly journals may be as short as a single page and written in an informal style. They need not be typed, if you prefer, unless I can't read your handwriting. But do not misunderstand: weekly journals are a MAJOR ASSIGNMENT for this seminar. Ecofeminist questions are difficult, and feminist theory in general is not easily understood. Perseverence and careful attentiveness are required. Informal writing is one of the best ways to sort through difficult material and to discover one's own intellectual interests, priorities, and biases. I will use the weekly journals to stimulate our class discussions, sometimes reading from them aloud or duplicating extracts for the class. If you do not wish your work to be made public in this way, please tell me. I will return journals the next week, having checked them and commented briefly. SAVE YOUR WORK: at the end of the semester, students will resubmit journals in a well-organized packet for a letter grade.

Final Project. In lieu of a final exam, students will engage in a significant research paper, fieldwork project, or creative alternative. Students will choose their own topics and design appropriate research methodologies in consultation with me. Students may work collaboratively or individually, as desired. Most students will be most comfortable designing a research project that uses a well-defined disciplinary methodology, including fieldwork (for example, a literary critical analysis of ecofeminist poetry, an art historical analysis of women's landscape photography, a philosophical study of some problem in ecofeminism, a sociological study of ecofeminist activism, etc). Some students may decide to create art themselves. Creative projects are permitted in any media: literature, painting, sculpture, dance, etc. Because project design will vary, students will consult with me individually at several points during the semester. When the time comes to do writing, we will work with multiple drafts, give each other feedback, and otherwise treat writing as a process in line with expectations for a W-2 course.

The final grade will be distributed as follows: Attendance and participation, 25%; Journals 25%; Final project (including proposal, progress report, and drafts at 5% each) 50%.

Class Policies:

• Please do see me in my office, whether or not you are experiencing difficulty with the course. I will be there during regularly scheduled office hours for students wishing to drop in. To make an appointment, see me after class or use the telephone.
• The calendar will be adjusted to accomodate Jewish students who plan to celebrate the traditional holidays; see me if you need to be excused from class.
• Students with disabilities will be accomodated. Students who need disability-related classroom accomodations are encouraged to make an appointment to see me as soon as possible.
• Attendance is required. If you are ill or have another type of excused absence, contact the dean's office.
• Drafts for workshopping in class may NOT be handed in late. Otherwise, late work will be accepted, but will be graded down.
• Papers must be typed. Use double-spacing and leave ample margins for my comments. Use regular bond: use neither "onion skin" nor heavy, stationary-quality paper.
• Plagiarism (using someone else's ideas or words as your own) is a serious offense at Bucknell University. Papers suspected of being plagiarized will not be graded; cases of plagiarism and other species of academic misconduct will be handed over to the appropriate university officials.
• Grades will not be discussed for 24 hours after students receive them. This "cooling off" period provides students the opportunity to reflect on the assignment and my comments, as well as to determine exactly what they want from a conference with me.

Schedule of Readings and Activities: