College Seminar (101-7-20)

Topic

Rooting Our Words: Landscape and Imagination

Instructors

Averill Curdy

Meeting Info

University Hall 018 English: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

This creative reading and creative writing course will focus on developing an imagination more deeply tuned to the environment, the physical landscape, we daily inhabit. Class will begin with a brief historical overview of how our relationship to nature has been shaped and expressed by writers from the past, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Henry David Thoreau, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. We'll then turn to contemporary poets who possess an eco-centric aesthetic, such as Camille Dungy, Ross Gay, Jane Hirshfield, Linda Hogan, Lorine Niedecker, and Alice Oswald. Through observation, research, guided prompts, and creative writing, students will explore through a personal lens the landscape they come from, as well as the Lake Michigan shoreline, the Northwestern campus, Evanston, and Chicago.

Evaluation Method

Attendance, Participation, Writer's notebook, Final portfolio.

Class Materials (Required)

Most texts will be provided for students on Canvas.

Class Attributes

WCAS College Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: REASON: Pre-registration is not allowed for this class. Please try again during regular registration. Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.
Add Consent: Department Consent Required
Drop Consent: Department Consent Required