Course Description

Instructor: Dan Vollaro

The course takes its title and inspiration from the great collection American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, a wide-ranging anthology of works by environmentalists, conservationists, philosophers, businesspeople, and activists. Beginning with the premise that American environmentalism begins with Thoreau, the course will use readings from this book to chart a path through two centuries of environmental philosophy and action. Some of the names are familiar—Walt Whitman, John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, John Steinbeck, and Woodie Guthrie. Others, like Rachel Carson, Edward Abbey, Wendell Berry, Bill McKibben, and Barbara Kingsolver helped create the modern environmental movement as we know it. The course will explore both the writing and the ideas, offering a survey of this vital movement in American history and culture.