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Introduction to the Environmental Humanities This course surveys nearly 5000 years of Western thinking in order to explore the cultural history of the relationship we have with our planet Mesopotamian-->Hebrew-->Greek-->Roman-->English-->American Geographically from east to west Lecture 1: Intro to the Environmental Humanities Ecocriticism 1. Why approach environmental issues from a literary perspective? ● It allows us to better understand how the relationship that we have with the environment historically emerged, as well as more fully understand our own feelings, both as individuals and as a culture, toward the environment. 2. Why do we read and study literature at all? ● Diversion ● Pleasure ● Education/Edification ● To understand human nature(In the extent that human nature does not change over time--according to the New Criticism) ● To understand history ● To understand our culture ● To understand ourselves 3. New Historicism ● Emerged around 1980; still remains extraordinarily influential and important today ● Allow us to use history to interpret our culture and also ourselves. ● Hermeneutic Circle: Old texts-->historical culture-->our present-day selves, cultures, ideas

Lecture 2: The Epic of Gilgamesh 1. Uruk, Gilgamesh’s Capital City ● Surrounded by wall ○ Protected people from outside ○ The environment has been seen as a danger throughout human history ● Natural vs. unnatural ○ We used to privilege unnatural, but now we privilege natural 2. The Character Gilgamesh ● Called “protector of the people”, but he actually abuses power in general and is a rapist; eventually he actually becomes a protector of the people ● Doubling with Enkidu, who repeatedly take on the role of protector 3. The Character Enkidu ● Created by Goddess Aruru

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Protector ○ Protect animals from traps ○ Protect brides from Gilgamesh ○ Protects Gilgamesh from Humbaba ○ Protects shepherds from lions and wolves ● Transition from protector of wild to protector of human The Character Humbaba ● Protector of the Cedar Forest, placed by the great god Enlil ● A genius loci: protect place only against human beings who would violate it ● The double of forest Genius Loci Figures ● A belief in deities that belong to the earth rather than metaphysical realm ● The earth(rivers, mountains, forests, etc) are sacred. They are protected from violation and exploitation by human beings ● In these religions, human beings could use the resources of the place only to a limited extent, after paying homage or tribute to the genius loci. The Cedar Forest ● Gilgamesh’s choosing axes as their weapon implies that it is an expedition to cut the forest instead of a battle. ● The battle is a metaphor for deforestation ● Gilgamesh forcing himself into the cedar forest echos rape. Earth Deities ● Eco-feminists argues a shift from female to male deities occurred before the Epic of Gilgamesh was composed ● The Epic of Gilgamesh records a decisive moment in human history when earth deities were “defeated” by human beings with the aid of a metaphysical deity.--> How a desire to use the resources of the environment overcame an earlier religion based on the earth Epilogue to the Myth of Gilgamesh ● Deforestation followed Western civilization, which contributes to global warming ● Reforestation is happening in certain parts of the globe

Lecture 3: Christianity and the Bible(eco-theology) 1. Genesis ● Arguably shaped western literature more than any other text, as they have been repeatedly referenced and interpreted ● Influenced how we think about women, gender, creation, evil, sex, free will, human destiny, cosmology, labor, animal rights, our notion of deity, etc. ● Many environmentalists have interpreted Christianity as not being earth-friendly

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In the 1970s, 80s, 90s, a variety of alternative spiritualities were considered and championed, such as Taoism, Shinto, Buddhism, and Native American and New-Age spiritualism. 2. Genesis, the text ● The Bible postulates a metaphysical God→ postulated as superior to the earth and all of his creation ● Privileges the metaphysical over the physical ● Terms ○ Male: Hebrew for replenish ○ Kabash: Hebrew for subdue ○ Radah: Hebrew for dominance ○ Abad: Hebrew for serve by labor ○ Shamar: Hebrew for protect 3. Genesis and the Environment ● In opposite to genius loci religions, Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects ● Earth is subordinate and obedient to God, and God gives human beings dominion over the entire planet. ● “Christianity is the most anthropocentric religion the world has seen”-- Lynn White Jr. ● Anthropocentrism(human-centered) vs. biocentrism(all equal). ● Metaphysical dualism: body(earth, evil) and soul(Heaven, good) ● In 2.15, environmentalists looked at this favorably as it suggests human beings are genius loci entrusted to protect the planet 4. Comparison ● From Heaven to earth in the Bible ● From the Golden Age to the Iron Age in Hesiod ● Shift from the pastoral to the georgic way of life in Virgil ● All are from an idealized paradise to a land of suffering, which result in the Christian theologians’ argument of the earth is in a state of irretrievable state of decay-->human beings can be saved, not the earth

Lecture 4: Greek Metaphysical Thinking(eco-philosophy) 1. Hesiod ● The Creation of Pandora ○ People live free from toil and ills until Pandora released evil into the world ● The “golden race” ○ Mortal man has all good things, with the fruitful earth unforced bare them food abundantly ● Both portrayed the perfect relationship with the earth is now lost 2. What is nature?

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According to Raymond Williams, “nature” may well be the most complex word in the English Language, as it has accumulated many meaning over time ● Nature is environments that are free of human habitation ● We understand nature spatially, ancient Greeks understand nature temporally ● Phusis: the ancient Greek word for nature Andy Goldsworthy’s documentary “Rivers and Tides” ● Nature is temporary ● He design artwork nature that can’t last(like ice sculptures) ● Every artwork, including those that meant to stand forever, will collapse eventually. ● Nature is birth, growth, passing away, endless process everywhere Heraclites ● “Impossible to step twice into the same stream” ● Believed that all of nature was in fact like an endlessly streaming stream, wildly in flux, as everything everywhere is constantly shifting across time. ● Phusis is temporal, not spatial. Plato ● In contrast, Plato redefined phusis to no longer signal the process by which everything emerges and passes away, but to reference what never passes away but endures permanently ● Socrates and Plato postulated a fixed and immutability realm of ideas free of change which they called the metaphysical realm ● They imagined a metaphysical realm superior to the physical earth, calling it the only true nature Martin Heidegger ● 20th century Geman philosopher. ● Regard Socrates and Plato’s destruction of phusis as a turning point in Western thinking by inaugurating a “metaphysics of presence”, which privileges the meaning of constant presence over the endless play of absence and presence ● Argues that modern technology is the completion of metaphysics. He considered a modern hydroelectric power plant being built on the Rhine River Heraclites’ Steam ● Stream is constantly streaming through Time. So you can never step into the same stream twice. And the stream itself may stop or turn into a torrent after a long period of time. Heidegger’s Dam ● A dam intended to convert the river into a reservoir, which no longer sporadically streaming and constantly present. ● Since this in some sense actually enacted and made real Plato’s ancient dream of an entity free of the ravages of Time and phusis, Modern Technology can be considered as the “completion of metaphysics” ● Similar example: sun’s ray vs. fossil fuel energy

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Hannah Arendt argues that even in Gilgamesh’s culture the bread, unlike fresh vegetables, could be stockpiled→ all human cultures seek constant presence in their works.

● Lecture 5: What is Nature? (eco-criticism, eco-theology, eco-philosophy) 1. The Physical and the Metaphysical(dualism) ● Meta-phusis/Phusis ○ Meta-phusis: what is beyond the physical earth, change, and nature. The Judeo-Christian God, Heaven is up here ○ Phusis: “Nature” in the Greek sense of process, but also the realm of sense experience. Plants, animals, the earth, and everything physical are down here. ● Deities ○ Metaphysical deities: Shamash from Gilgamesh, Christian God ○ Earth Gods: Genius Loci figures ● Place ○ The Judeo-Christian Heaven and Plato’s realm of ideas. Places that exist nowhere in the physical realm ○ The earth as an imperfect place ● Time ○ The changeless realm of eternal life and pure being. Immortal, perfect, unchanged(example: Heaven & God) ○ Birth life death. The endless bringing-forth and passing away of phusis(example: a rose blossoming, a stream streaming, a human life). ● Dualistic Human Beings ○ Soul: lives eternally ○ Body: inferior, temporary, sin, evil ● Plato’s Divided Line ○ The “intelligible realm” where ideas are known by reason, interestingly this is accessible to living human beings. ○ Sensory realm of Earth/phusis like Plato’s cave, illusionary appearance, and the real world of nature as they are a cheap copy of a far better place, changeable. ○ Reason is to this intelligible realm of ideas as mere opinion is to the sensory, earthly realm. ● Presence/Absence ○ Constant present(truth, beauty, god) ○ Phusis, the play of absence & presence ● Artifacts ○ Long last artifacts like pyramids, tombstone ○ Artifacts that required rebuild every few years(actually all artificial work is in this category) ● Art

○ A culture endures many centries(the epic of Gilgamesh) ○ Andy Goldsworthy’s art ● Language ○ Enable a culture’s ideas to exist over time ○ How does a culture endure without language? ● Modern/Ancient Technology ○ Heidegger’s Dam ○ Heraclites’ s streaming stream Lecture 6: Pastoral (ecocriticism) 1. Art and Literature a. Pastoral is not a literary genre, but it is a mode of writing that can inhabit many genres(including literary genre and painting, music etc) b. Allegorical. While pastoral can literally be about the environment, it has often been a veiled way of talking about something else(e.g. Edmund Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calendar). c. It can also be just literal. 2. Pastoral as Nostalgic and Contemporary a. Often highly nostalgic. Often looks back to a “simpler time” when human beings were imagined as having had a better relationship with the planet b. Nature is preferred. c. Contemporary countryside is imagined as a locus amoenus. Often invoked in pastoral art when the modern world is worrisome(e.g. Asher Brown Durand’s Pastoral Landscape or Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring) d. The perfect place is imagined both temporally and spatially, but not too far away. 3. Theocritus a. Ancient Greek poet who wrote pastoral poems, depicting shepherds spending their days in peasant pastime such as singing matches and wooing shepherdesses 4. From an environmental perspective a. Shepherd often mentioned. Ironically, sheep are notorious for their ability to keep the plant from growing to maturity, they are excellent at deforest. b. “Pastoral is the view of the pasture from the living room window”--Henry David Thoreau (rarely written by shepherd, more written in urban area) 5. Environmental Consciousness a. If something happens to the environment, such as it being threatened, we become more aware of it(e.g. Oil spills in Santa Barbara, 1969) 6. Edward Burtynsky a. Anti-pastoral: draw attention to both pristine and endangered landscapes to urge people protecting the environment b. “Manufactured Landscapes”

Unit 7: Pastoral, conclusion & Georgic 1. Virgil ● A Roman poet writing 200 years after Theocritus. ● He is aware of the environment as endangered in the first place, as well as the role of human action 2. Virgil Eclogue I ● In his Eclogue I, Virgil explores the aforementioned notion that we are often not fully aware of our environment until it is lost ● Meliboeus attempts to draw his friend Tityrus’s attention to the environment due to the fact that he has been exiled from his farm. However, Tityrus responds by drawing attention to the political situation ● Meliboeus continues by observing in some detail how something is wrong environmentally. ● It is important to note that Meliboeus develop this environmental consciousness is not because the environment is changing around him, but because he is changing scenes. ● Consequently, it is not enough to know that the environment was endangered by human action, we also need to know how this happened--so that we can keep it from happening again 3. Pastoral(Conclusion) ● literal/allegory ● Impact our relationship to the environment and our awareness of it 4. Georgic ● A form of nature writing depicting life in the country, but it is by contrast about hard work and agriculture ● Unlike pastoral landscapes, which are populated by shepherds leisurely standing with their sheep, georgic landscapes depict farmers working the land 5. Virgil’s Georgics ● Virgil also imagines a perfect time when human beings lived at peace with the planet, which spontaneously provided for all human needs. There is an equitable relationship between human beings. ● The relationship that human beings have to the earth is here viewed as adversarial. ● Virgil imagined pastoral places as fanciful, while the actual georgic work of the countryside was seen as very real. 6. Varro “On Agriculture” ● Same era as Virgil ● The first Latin writer to take up the subject of agriculture is written by Cato ● Cato and Varro both are intent on conquering the earth, and both their projects are built upon the use of slave labor ● Only efficient production and marketing matters and the key is the economy of scale

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Example: bird should be killed a special building so other birds won’t get depressed Varro is aware of animals’ sentient and feeling, yet he ignores it as he pursues profit ○ Related to death camps The disturbing consequences ○ If there is no prohibition against the exploitation of other forms of life, then the mass exploitation becomes possible. (example: Gilgamesh) ○ If we imagine ourselves fundamentally different than other life on the planet, then it opens up the possibility that we are permitted to do with their lives as we please ○ If this physical realm is largely insignificant and soulless beings have no place in the metaphysical realm, then our treatment of the earth and its non-human life risks becoming inconsequential

Climate Climate Change, Introduction 1. Where does wood come from ● Earth, water, air, and fire 2. CO2, Plants, and Carbs ● Rising levels of atmospheric CO2 are the principal cause of climate change ● CO2 in the atmosphere has risen from 280 PPM to over 410 PPM today. ● Photosynthesis 3. Fossil Fuels ● In Spring the plants grow→ low CO2 levels in summer / In Fall plants decays→ high CO2 levels in winter ● When plant matter falls under water, CO2 sequestered underwater and eventually forms fossil fuels. During the fossilization process, they may pick up nitrogen and sulfur, which will become worrisome types of pollution when combine with oxygen ● Methane is much more potent than CO2 4. Greenhouse gases ● Greenhouse traps solar radiation(Example: imagine your car under the sun) ● CO2, Methane, and other gasses ● They are not inherently bad, instead, they are necessary, but it will cause a problem. ● “Global warming”, severe weather, droughts, change in regional weather patterns ● Average global temperature has risen between 1.2 and 1.4 degrees

Climate Change, Impact 1. Plants and Animals ● The earth has experienced five major extinctions, we are now in the midst of our planet’s sixth extinction event ● We are adding CO2 to the atmosphere at least 10 times faster than Permian-Triassic extinction ● Plants and animals have three options ○ To adapt: current climate change is too quickly ○ To move: causing problems like the Zica virus in tropical area is now in the U.S ○ To die: coral is dying across the globe

2. Oceans, Ice, and Land ● Over 90% of the heat from climate change has been absorbed by the oceans. Oceans become acidic when they absorb CO2 ● Warmer air is melting ice, causing increased sea level and is already impacting a range of places 3. People, Population, and Justice ● Environmental: Justice: Poorer people will suffer more from climate change, but wealthier countries and individuals are contributing to climate change far more by emitting more greenhouse guesses.

Climate Change, Solutions 1. We are Still in ● President Trump pulled us out of the Paris Agreement(An international agreement to keep the temperature rise this century below 2 degrees) ● But many places including California is still in 2. Personal Impact, Transportation ● Transportation is the largest source of CO2 emissions for most people. ○ A car even released a lot of CO2 when it is made ○ Use buses, subways, and trains ○ Flying releases a lot of CO2 3. Personal Impact, Housing ● Options: ○ Tiny houses ○ Micro apartment ○ Eco-villages / co-housing 4. Personal Impact, Stuff ● Average America buys 64 items of clothing per year-- The True Cost ● Obsolescence of function, quality, and desirability 5. Personal Impact, Food Systems ● 40% of food is wasted in the U.S. ● The documentary Cowspiracy makes clear that our food choices can impact our climate ● Nearly half of the water used in the U.S. goes to raising livestock ● Animal agriculture is responsible for about 15% of total greenhouse gas world-wide 6. Pulling it all together ● “Be the change that you wish to see in the world” --Mahatma Gandhi ● How can you fight climate change? ○ Vote and become active ○ Eschew cars & planes, embrace bikes & mass transit ○ Live in a small, shared, or urban space

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Minimize your stuff Become a flexitarian / climaterian “Be the change that you wish to see in the world” Dana Rohrabacher voted out from Congress for his irresponsible statement about climate change

Reading / Names The Epic of Gilgamesh An epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, mainly about Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu fighting Humbaba, the genius loci, with the help of Shamash, a metaphysical god. Eventually, they cut down the forest. A Forest’s Journey by John Perlin Claiming Gilgamesh’s action of cutting cider trees down as an act of destroying nature, and the reason for the decline of Sumerian Civilization is the excessive silt and salinity caused by their deforestation. Genesis The metaphysical God created humans as a being that is superior to all other species, and that there are soul and body in each person. The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis by Lynn White Jr. Western technology is the reason for people’s exploitation of nature. The plow and calendar are the representation of man dominant nature. Christianity also plays a large role in it. Saint Francis is another view of Christianity that he viewed humans and everything else equal. “Christianity is the most anthropocentric religion the world has seen” Saint Francis The guy in Lynn White Jr.’s writing who views everything equal Cosmic Fragment by Heraclites Heraclitus’s stream that everything is constantly changing Heidegger 20th century German Heidegger’s dam in contrast to Heraclite’s stream Plato Disagree with Heraclites’ idea and instead claiming that there exists a realm of permanence where everything remains the same. Also provides an example of a cave to show people’s imagination of a thing that may be wrong. Works and Days by Hesiod Greek Pandora’s Box Prometheus steals fire for man, so Zeus created Pandora to bring evil to human Five Ages of Men...