Wellesley College | Fall 2022 | DRAFT, SUBJECT TO CHANGE
This course concerns a range of ethical and aesthetic questions about places, whether of natural or cultural significance. How should we understand the value of nature? Is it relative to human interests, or independent of them? What is nature in the first place, and how is it distinguished from culture? Is scientific or cultural knowledge relevant to the aesthetic experience of nature? Does “natural beauty” have a role to play in guiding environmental preservation? When we seek to preserve an ecosystem or a building, what exactly should we be aiming to preserve? Should the history of a place guide our interactions with it? How should we navigate conflicts between environmental and cultural preservation, especially as they intersect with issues of race and class? How should a changing climate affect our environmental values? We will investigate these questions, among others, in contexts from wilderness to parks, cities to ruins.
Introduction: Some basic tools for the course.
What is Nature?
Steven Vogel, "Against Nature" in Thinking Like a Mall
"The Unnatural Kingdom" in The New York Times
The Social Construction of Nature
Steven Vogel, "The Social Construction of Nature" in Thinking Like a Mall
How Should We Value Nature? 1
Katie McShane, “Anthropocentrism vs. Nonanthropocentrism: Why Should We Care?”
"The Geotagging Debate is Really about Gatekeeping in the Outdoors" in Traveler
How Should We Value Nature? 2 (Class Meets in Davis Museum)
Krushil Watane, "Valuing nature: Māori philosophy and the capability approach"
What is a Place?
Tim Cresswell, "Defining Place" in Place: An Introduction
Watch: Counter Mapping at Aeon
Knowing a Place
Quill R. Kukla, "Knowing things and going places"
Environmental Aesthetics 1
Emily Brady, "Imagination and the Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature"
Sandra Shapshay, "At once tiny and huge: what is this feeling we call ‘sublime’?" in Aeon
Environmental Aesthetics 2
Yuriko Saito, “The Aesthetics of Unscenic Nature”
"I’ve Stayed Silent for Too Long: Opossums Deserve Our Love" at Mother Jones
Gardens 1 (Class Meets at Global Flora)
Thomas Heyd, "Thinking Through Botanic Gardens"
Brandon Keim, “Earth is not a garden” in Aeon
Gardens 2
Julianne Chung, "Moral Cultivation: Japanese Gardens, Personal Ideals, and Ecological Citizenship"
Ruins 1
Carolyn Korsmeyer, Jeanette Bicknell, Jennifer Judkins, and Elizabeth Scarbrough, “Symposium on the Aesthetics of Ruins and Absence”
Ruins 2
Elizabeth Scarbrough, “Visiting The Ruins of Detroit"
Alex Mayyasi, "Why Do Tourists Visit Ancient Ruins Everywhere Except the United States?" at Priceonomics
Layered Landscapes 1
Marion Hourdequin and David Havlick: “Ecological Restoration in Context: Ethics and the Naturalization of Former Military Lands”
Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge promotional video from U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Layered Landscapes 2
Kyle Powys Whyte, "Settler Colonialism, Ecology, and Environmental Justice"
Listen: Interview with Kyle Whyte at Myisha Cherry's UnMute Podcast
Layered Landscapes 3
Tanya Venture, Caitlin DeSilvey, Bryony Onciul & Hannah Fluck, "Articulating Loss: A Thematic Framework for Understanding Coastal Heritage Transformations"
National Parks 1
Esme Murdock, "Conserving Dispossession? A Genealogical Account of the Colonial Roots of Western Conservation"
National Parks 2
David Treuer, "Return the National Parks to the Tribes"
Listen: "Indigenous Wisdom and Landback" from the Georgetown Core Pathways Podcast
National Parks 3
Margret Grebowicz, The National Park to Come, Intro and Chapter 1
National Parks 4
Robert Melchior Figueroa and Gordon Waitt, "Climb: Restorative Justice, Environmental Heritage, and the Moral Terrains of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park"
Urban Public Space 1
Ted Kilian, "Public and Private, Power and Space"
Listen: "Freedom and Hostile Design" from Barry Lam's HiPhi Nation
Urban Public Space 2
Quill Kukla, "Spatial Agency, Territory, and the Right to the City"
Urban Public Space 3
Nicholas Whittaker, "The Right to be Alone"
Listen: "Beneath the Skyway" from 99% Invisible
Peer Editing
Urban Public Space 4
Erin Toolis, "Theorizing Critical Placemaking as a Tool for Reclaiming Public Space"
Conclusion