Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
"Climate Change and the Literary Imagination"
In his essay about "climate change and the unthinkable", entitled The Great Derangement, the Indian writer Amitav Ghosh argues that contemporary artists - just like politicians - have revealed a deep-lying inability to grasp the scale and the likely consequences of global warming, so that the theme tends to be underrepresented in high-brow literary culture. We shall read Ghosh's essay together, and try to give him the lie by examining two novels which do engage with the imaginary challenge represented by climate change. Our reading list will then be as follows:
Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2016; University of Chicago Press)
Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behavior (2012; HarperCollins)
Alexis Wright, The Swan Book (2013; Constable).
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
1. Enhance the students' capacity for textual analysis and interpretation.
2. Encourage the students to militate for a reduction of the consumption of the world's resources by their parents and forebears.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
The course is taught in English.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Heuristic seminars.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
By arrangement with the students, but probably Tuesdays 1-3 pm.
Organisational adjustments related to the current health context
Recommended or required readings
See above.
Assessment methods and criteria
Below you will find information on the evaluation methods planned for in-person and remote exams as well as those planned for hybrid sessions. Depending on how the health crisis evolves, the chosen method will be communicated to you no later than one month before the start of the exam session.
The students will be requested to write a personal essay, on a related topic of their choice, followed by an oral debriefing with the teacher.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
The course is organized in the first term.
Contacts
Prof. Marc Delrez, marc.delrez@uliege.be