Course Description
Students develop ethical reasoning skills through the analysis of Latin American literature and film relating to environmental issues, sustainability, animal rights, and human health, among other topics. Taught in English with readings in Portuguese, Spanish, or English translation.
Athena Title
Latin Am Env Ethics
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will learn about different perspectives on environmental and social topics in relation to issues regarding economic development, geopolitics, and cultural differences
- Students will engage methodologies ranging from quantitative data comparison, discursive analysis, and ethical assessment for evaluating the legitimacy of truth claims regarding a variety of social and environmental topics
- Students will prepare analytical and argumentative writing assignments requiring clearly stating a thesis, the development of progressive argumentation, and the use of supporting evidence, as well as oral debate during in-class discussions
- As a course focused on the analysis of literature and other forms of cultural production, students will engage in analytical methodologies such as close reading requiring the usage of inference and the interpretation of symbolic and indirect discourse in texts as well as other forms of visual representation
Topical Outline
- I. Introduction. Environmental Issues and Thought in Latin America.
- II. Overview of Environmental Ethics. Roles of Literature and Film in Promoting Ethical Thinking.
- III-V. Analysis of Literary Representations of Animals; Discussion of Human/Animal Divide.
- VI-VII. Analysis of Literary Representations of Plants; Discussion of Plant Sciences Relating to Plant Cognition, Memory, and Communications.
- VIII-IX. Analysis of Discourses of Nature and the Environment in Historical Context, including European Colonial Perspectives and Indigenous Perspectives on Land and Territoriality.
- X-XI. Analysis of Literary and Filmic Representations of Industrialization and Extractive Industries in Latin America.
- XII-XIII. Intersectional Analysis of Literary and Film Representations of Gender and the Environment.
- XIV-XV. Study of Buen Vivir (Living Well), Sustainable Practices, and Rights of Nature Provisions in Bolivia and Ecuador.
