Special Topics in the Humanities (370-5-30)
Topic
Being Human in a More Than Human World
Instructors
Sarah Hieatt Jacoby
8474671304
Department of Religious Studies, Crowe Hall 4-134, 1860 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208
Office Hours: Wed 1-3pm, Crowe 4-149
Meeting Info
Parkes Hall 212: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
Being Human in a More-Than-Human World
A binding principle of interrelationship weaves through domains as divergent as ecology, Buddhism, and critical theory, among others. This course takes an expansive look at various permutations of interdependence as imagined across terrains ranging from millennia-old Buddhist texts to modern explorations into Buddhist environmentalism (ecodharma), political ecology, and critical theory. In this process, the elements that comprise our environment—earth, water, air, minerals, trash & treasures—will transform from scenery to agentic forces with whom living beings act.
As we move through this pilgrimage across disciplines, we will ask ourselves: What are the consequences of understanding ourselves as individual agents, acting alone in the universe? In what ways is individualism a sought-after virtue according to some, and part and parcel of humans' earth destroying tendencies according to others? What alternative ways of being and knowing can we imagine that present human agency in relational terms, co-constituted not just by other organisms, but also by a web of environmental conditions that make life possible? How can we re-envision humans' interdependent relationship with the more-than-human world in ways that can mitigate climate grief and apathy and support sustainable living practices?
Class Materials (Required)
To be announced
Class Attributes
Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Ethics & Values Distro Area