AMST 353
Apocalypse in Post-War America: Environmental Fear From the Atomic Age to Climate Change
Spring 2014
Division II
Cross-listed
ENVI 353
This is not the current course catalog
Class Details
One dominant strain of the postwar American environmental imagination has been fear, from diffuse anxiety to paralyzing terror. This course will explore this culture of fear through a variety of topics in postwar American environmental consciousness, including the specter of atomic annihilation, the anti-ecotoxics and environmental justice movements, food security, and climate change. We will also explore issues surrounding the idea of wilderness, the relation of native peoples and other minority groups with the landscape, the natural environment in urban spaces, human labor in the natural environment, and the ways in which a variety of disciplinary perspectives such as law, politics, and public health inform our historical understanding of environmental fear. Key texts will include Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.
The Class:
Format: seminar
Limit: 15
Expected: 10
Class#: 3999
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Limit: 15
Expected: 10
Class#: 3999
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation:
evaluation based on attendance and participation, weekly written responses to readings, structuring and leading discussion during one class meeting, a final research paper proposal, 5-7 page draft, and a final 12-15 page research paper
Prerequisites:
none
Distributions:
Division II
Notes:
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
AMST 353 Division II ENVI 353 Division II
AMST 353 Division II ENVI 353 Division II
Attributes:
ENVI Humanities, Arts + Social Science Electives
ENVP SC-B Group Electives
ENVP SC-B Group Electives
Class Grid
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HEADERS
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AMST 353 - 01 (S) SEM Apocalypse in Post-War America
AMST 353 - 01 (S) SEM Apocalypse in Post-War AmericaDivision IIBrian McCammackW 1:10 pm - 3:50 pm
Clark Hall 2053999
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