Was Tolkien a tree-hugger? Does political tyranny wreak environmental
havoc? Does the restoration of the Shire in The Lord of the
Rings provide lessons for our own time and place? These are
some of the questions discussed in Ents, Elves, and Eriador:
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Environmental Vision by UGA English
professor Jonathan Evans and co-author Matthew Dickerson of
Middlebury College. Writing this book spurred Evans to design
a course on environment and literature.
“Although this is a complete departure for me, in terms
of teaching,” says Evans, who is Director of the UGA
Medieval Studies Program, “I’ve been thinking about
these things for a long time.” He notes that UGA’s
Environmental Literacy requirement mandates that “all
undergrads must demonstrate they are knowledgeable about environmental
issues.” Biology, crop sciences, forestry, geology, and
other sciences dominate UGA’s list of designated courses.
Evans’ course brings the humanities to this field.
In April 2005 the English faculty approved his proposal for
ENGL 4835-Environmental Literature. ENGL 4835 will also provide
credit hours for UGA’s Environmental Ethics Certificate
Program of whose faculty Evans is a member.
In Maymester 2005 Evans taught a pilot version of the course,
covering work by two Kentucky writers Wendell Berry and Barbara
Kingsolver and stories by James Kibler, English professor at
UGA and friend of Wendell Berry. Evans’ first venture
into Modern and American literature attracted both English
majors and non-majors. He found the Maymester students “extremely
enthusiastic” and “intensely engaged” as
they examined the representation of nature in these works and
analyzed their effectiveness in both aesthetic and political
terms.
The topic of Environmental Literature permits many permutations.
Evans points out that while fantasy literature and sci-fi often
manifest environmental themes, by no means are such issues
restricted to these genres. In recent years, eco-feminism and
ecocriticism have emerged as sub-genres. “And there’s
the expressive, creative aspect of nature writing,” adds
Evans, “which has been taught in this department by my
colleagues, Philip Lee Williams and Fred Dolezal.”
The many new anthologies of nature writing and environmental
literature evidence a growing body of work and criticism as
well as growing interest among artists, academics and general
readers. Evans hopes the new course and his forthcoming book
will stimulate people to think about environmental issues. “It’s
important,” he said. “We need to be responsible.”
Building the New Learning Environment
The new learning environment is an academic and intellectual
community on the campus of the University of Georgia humming
with the vibrancy of the true college experience—bright
and talented students working with brilliant faculty formally
in the classroom and informally over a cup of coffee or lounging
in the greenspace which stretches from one end of campus to
the other. It is a place which recognizes that new information
technologies are transforming traditional academic disciplines
and embraces those opportunities. |
UGA
English professor Jonathan Evans will teach a new course in Environmental
Literature starting in XXX. The course will fulfill UGA’s Environmental
Literacy graduation requirement.
