Hong Kong Shue Yan University
Department of English Language & Literature
1st term, 2015-2016
Course Code
: ENG 406
Course Title
: Literature, Culture and Ecological Ethics
Year of Study
: 4th
Number of Credits
:3
Duration in Weeks
: 15
Contact Hours Per Week
: Lecture (2 Hours), Tutorial (1 Hour)
Pre-requisite(s)
: NIL
Prepared by
: WONG Kin Yuen
Course Description
This course introduces students to the relatedness among ecology, culture and literature.
Students are expected to first have a grasp of modern ecological concepts such as how
ecology is different from biology, environmental politics and global crises and animal
extinction etc. Then students will delve into issues within ecological ethics or “life Ethics”
as a way of going beyond the narrow-mindedness of environmentalism per se. Texts on
cultural geography, environment and social theory, ecotheology, mythology, ecofeminism
and ecotourism will be used, and they are placed alongside chosen western literary works
(novels, poems, short stories) as well as cultural texts such as films, T.V. shows (including
animation) for illustration. This course adopts an “intercultural studies” approach, hence
“green cultural studies” both in its theory and practice, will be an important element of
the course.
Course Outline
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. become knowledgeable in the basics of ecology, and how the ecological crisis affects
everyone of us in the 21st century;
2. tell the difference between deep ecology and environmentalism, and why the latter
is labeled as “shallow” by the former;
3. practice “ecocriticism” by analyzing the assigned literary texts and films which have
themes in ecological ethics; and,
4. relate what they have learnt in courses in Cultural Studies to what is now called
“green cultural studies.” Cultural texts chosen from the local experiences are to be
emphasized.
Course Outcomes, Teaching Activities and Assessment
Course Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
Upon completion of this course students should be able to:
ILO1
become knowledgeable in the basics of ecology, and how the ecological
crisis affects everyone of us in the 21st century.
ILO2
ILO3
ILO4
TLA1
TLA2
TLA3
TLA4
TLA5
TLA6
AT1
AT2
AT3
tell the difference between deep ecology and environmentalism, and why
the latter is labeled as “shallow” by the former.
practice “ecocriticism” by analyzing the assigned literary texts and films
which have themes in ecological ethics.
relate what they have learnt in courses in Cultural Studies to what is now
called “green cultural studies.”
Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs)
Introduction to ecology and environmental ethics
Introduction to green cultural studies
Textual analysis of the texts
Analysis of literary or filmic texts with reference to the critical concepts
concerned
Oral Presentations by students
Write a Term Paper
Assessment Tasks (ATs)
Participation and Presentation
Term Paper
Final Examination
TOTAL
20%
30%
50%
100%
Alignment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes, Teaching and Learning Activities and
Assessment Tasks
Course Intended Learning
Teaching and Learning
Assessment Tasks
Outcomes
Activities
ILO1
TLA1,2,6
AT1,2,3
ILO2
TLA1,2
AT1,2,3
ILO3
TLA3,4
AT1,2,3
ILO4
TLA1,2
AT1,2,3
Week 1
Introduction to Ecology and Culture: Ecology and Intercultural Studies
Readings:
Kristin Shrader Frechette, “Ecology, “ A Companion to Environmental Philosophy. Ed. Dale
Jamieson. Cambridege: Blackwell, 2001. pp. 304-315.
David Burnie, Get A Grip on Ecology. Ivy Press, 2000.
Week 2
Ecology, Evolution, Environmental Politics
Movie:
An Inconvenient Truth
Readings:
Stephen Croall and William Rankin, Introducing Environmental Politics. Cambridge: Icon
Books, 2000. pp. 6-38.
Ernst Mayr, What Evolution Is. New York: Basic Books, 2001. pp. 3-11.
Dylan Evans and Oscar Zarate, Introducing Evolutionary Psychology. Cambridge: Icon
Books, 1999. pp. 12-29.
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Week 3
The theme of Nature and Landscape in English Romanticism and American
Transcendentalism
Readings:
William Wordsworth, “Lines Written in Early Spring,” “The Tables Turned,” “I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud,” “Nutting.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Mont Blanc”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nature”
Reference:
Henry David Thoreau, Waldon
Week 4
Animals, Animal Rights and Life Ethics
Readings:
Hemingway, “The Short Happy Life of Francis McComber”
Erazim Kohak, The Green Halo: A Bird’s Eye View of Ecological Ethics. Chicago: Open Court,
2000. pp. 1-14; 166-167.
Adrian Franklin, Animals and Modern Cultures. London: Sage, 1999. pp. 188-199.
Week 5
Environmental Ethics
Movie:
Hayao Miyazaki, Princess Mononoke
Readings:
J. Baird Callicott, “Introduction to Environmental Ethics.” Environmental Philosophy: From
Animal Rights to Radical Ecology. Eds. Michael E. Zimmerman et al. New Jersey: Pearson,
2005. pp. 5-15.
Michael W. Fox, Bringing Life to Ethics. Albany: State University of New York, 2001. pp.
41-62; 227-231.
Sarah Orne Jewett, “A White Heron” from Anthology of American Literature, 2nd Edition,
pp. 197-203.
Week 6
Mythology and the Gaia Hypothesis
Readings:
James Lovelock, “The Life History of Gaia,” The Revenge of Gaia: Earth’s Climate Crisis and
the Fate of Humanity. New York: Basic Books, 2006. pp. 39-47.
Stephen L. Field. “In Search of Dragons: The Folk Ecology of Fengshui,” Daoism and
Ecology: Ways Within A Cosmic Landscape. Eds. N.J. Girardot et al. Cambridge: Harvard
University press, 2001. pp. 185-200.
Week 7
The Human and the Non-human: transversal Communication in Ecoethics
Readings:
Leopoldo Lagones, “Yzur”
Mike Resnik, “The Elephants on Neptune”
Week 8
Environmental Politics, Colonial Discourse and the Third World
Movie:
Medicine Man
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Readings:
Mike Resnik, “For I Have Touched the Sky”
Ursual K. LeGuin, “The Bones of the Earth” from Tales From Earthsea, 2001.
Reference:
Instinct (movie)
Week 9
Green Cultural Studies (Theory)
Readings:
Cheryll Glofelty, “Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis,” The Ecocriticism
Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Eds. Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm. New
York: University of Georgia Press, 1996. xv-xxxvii.
Greg Garrard, “Beginnings,” “Pollution,” “Positions,” Ecocriticism. New York & London:
Routldege, 2004. pp. 1-32.
Week 10
Green Cultural Studies (Practice)
Readings:
Horacio Quiroga, “The Alligator War”
Jhan Hochman, “The Theriomorphic Bestiary: The Silence of the Lambs,” Green Cultural
Studies:Nnature in Film, Novel and Theory. Moscow: University of Idaho Press, 1998. pp.
21-41.
Week 11
Technoscience Culture and Ecology
Movie:
Fly Away Home
Readings:
Lori Grun, “Technology,” Companion to Environmental Philosophy. Ed. Dale Jamieson.
Cambridege: Blackwell, 2001. pp. 439-448.
Week 12
Deep Ecology and Life Ethics
Readings:
Peter Singer, “Animals,” Companion to Environmental Philosophy. Ed. Dale Jamieson.
Cambridege: Blackwell, 2001. pp. 416-425.
William Faulkner, “The Bear”
Week 13
Ecofeminism vs. Deep Ecology
Readings:
Wangari Maathai, “A Forest Goddess Plants a Little Hope”
Carolyn Merhant, Earthcare: Women and the Environment. New York: Routledge, 1995.
pp. 3-26.
Octavio Paz, “My Life with the Wave”
Week 14
Ecotourism
Movie:
Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away
Reading:
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Rosaleen Duffy. “Green Greed: Ecotourism and Environmental Ideologies,” A Trip Too Far:
Ecotourism, Politics and Exploitation. Sterling: Earthscan, 2002. pp. 1-19.
Week 15
Recapitulation
Academic Honesty
You are expected to do your own work. Dishonesty in fulfilling any assignment undermines the
learning process and the integrity of your college degree. Engaging in dishonest or unethical
behavior is forbidden and will result in disciplinary action, specifically a failing grade on the
assignment with no opportunity for resubmission. A second infraction will result in an F for the
course and a report to College officials. Examples of prohibited behavior are:
Cheating – an act of deception by which a student misleadingly demonstrates that s/he has
mastered information on an academic exercise. Examples include:
Copying or allowing another to copy a test, quiz, paper, or project
Submitting a paper or major portions of a paper that has been previously submitted for
another class without permission of the current instructor
Turning in written assignments that are not your own work (including homework)
Plagiarism – the act of representing the work of another as one’s own without giving credit.
Failing to give credit for ideas and material taken from others
Representing another’s artistic or scholarly work as one’s own
Fabrication – the intentional use of invented information or the falsification of research or
other findings with the intent to deceive
To comply with the University’s policy, the term paper has to be submitted to VeriGuide.
References
Altfield, Robin. (1983) The Ethics of Environmental Concern. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Bate, Jonathan. (1991) Romantic Ecology: Wordsworth and the Environmental Tradition.
Routledge
Buckingham-Hatfield, Susan. (2000) Gender and Environment. London & New York:
Routledge.
Carr, Terry, ed. (1980) Dream's Edge: Science Fiction Stories About the Future of Planet
Earth. SF: Sierra Club.
Croall, Stephen and Rankin, William. (2000) Introducing Environmental Politics. Cambridge:
Icon Books.
Devall, William, and George Sessions. (1985) Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered.
Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books.
Fennell, David A. (1999) Ecotourism: An Introduction. London & New York: Routledge.
Girardot, N.T., Miller, James & Liu, Xiaogan, eds. (2001) Daoism and Ecology: Ways Within
A Cosmic Landscape Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Jamieson, Dale, ed. (2001) A Companion to Environmental Philosphy. Cambridge:
Blackwell.
Kohak, Erazim V. (2000) The Green Halo: A Bird's-eye View of Ecological Ethics. Chicago:
Open Court.
Light, Andrew and Rolston III, Holmes, eds. (2003) Environmental Ethics: An Anthology.
Oxford: Blackwell.
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Lovelock, James. (2006) The Revenge of Gaia: Earth’s Climate Crisis & the Fate of
Humanity. New York: Basic Books.
Mayr, Ernst. (2001) What Evolution Is. New York: Basic Books.
Merchang, Carolyn. (1995) Earthcare: Women and the Environment. New York: Routledge.
Murphy, Patrick D. (1995) Literature, Nature, and Other: Ecofeminist Critique. Albany:
State University of New York Press.
Primavesi, Anne. (2003) Gaia’s Gift. London & New York: Routledge.
Robinson, Kim Stanley. (1994) Future Primitive: The New Ecotopias.
Roszak, Theodore et al., eds. (1995) Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind.
San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Roszak, Theodore. (1992) "Attending the Planet", The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration
of Ecopsychology. New York: Touchstone Book
Soule, Michael E, ed. (1995) Reinventing Nature?: Responses to Postmodern
Deconstruction. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Wilber, Ken. (2000) Sex, Ecology, Spirituality. Boston & London: Shambhala.
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