A Sacred Earth - Ancient Thought and Indigenous Wisdom

This course is a critical, interdisciplinary study of environmental worldviews and ethics - how people think about the earth and how what they think makes them act. We will focus on recent responses to climate change and environmental crisis that seek to recognize or recover the sacredness of the earth as a strategy for survival in the Anthropocene. We will consider what ethical choices present themselves in a world where animals, plants, rivers, and mountains are full of life, intelligence, and agency compared with a world where only (some kinds of) humans really matter. Entertaining other ways of being and knowing, we will explore how spirits and ancestors shape societies. Seminar readings include indigenous thought, religious wisdom, ancient and modern philosophy, ecofeminism, environmental humanities, and the "new animism." Working closely with the instructor, your research manuscript or creative portfolio may relate to any aspect of the course according to your interest and passion.