Environmental Studies: Ethics, Ideas and Nature: About This Project

This guide supports the work of the students in the EVRN 336 course, which examines the ethical frameworks developed for thinking about, using, and protecting the natural world.

Student Led Collections

                                                                                                     A photograph of a wetland prairie with a gravel tracked road and blue sky with clouds.
                                                                                                            Baker Wetlands, Lawrence, Kansas. Geiger Wolfe, 2022

The Course

Taught by Ali Brox, this course examines the ethical frameworks developed for thinking about, using, and protecting the natural world. Multiple perspectives on the history of human interactions with nature demonstrate the importance of reflecting upon the value systems inherent in human-centered environmental ethics and nature-centered environmental ethics.

The Project

The students will examine the underrepresentation of diverse voices and perspectives in current canon of nature writing. Through their research and exploration, they will work together to source, annotate, peer-review, and crowd-source authors and voices that are writing in this space. This living, breathing guide will grow and evolve as students engage in this work.

A Note From Ali

The idea for this project developed when I was preparing my syllabus to teach Environmental Ethics for the first time, and I was considering the canon of environmental writing. In a course about ethics, it seemed imperative to reflect on whose voices were being heard and why. What values were my course readings championing and what voices were underrepresented or absent?  The research my students conducted expands the perspectives and types of sources for the course that engage ethical decisions about humans, non-humans, and nature.

How to Use this Guide

Begin with the Library Research Resources page to find a selection of physical and digital resources to help with nature writing inquiry: print books from KU's many libraries; ebooks, articles, and digital publications; databases, websites and more. The remaining pages are dedicated to the student created abstracts of diverse nature writing, organized by themes.

 

Nature Writing Themes

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