How have people managed to confront moments of catastrophe, and how might we confront our own tumultuous times? We will address today's tremendously difficult historical realities---genocide, ecocide, fascism, racial hatred, political extremism, and the demise of the biosphere. Each of these can be taken as symptoms of something profoundly wrong. We will see how writers as far distant as Ovid and as close by as Octavia Butler have imagined radically different relations between humans and the world, and help us reconsider the way we spend our time on this planet.
3-5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
How have people managed to confront moments of catastrophe, and how might we confront our own tumultuous times? We will address today's tremendously difficult historical realities---genocide, ecocide, fascism, racial hatred, political extremism, and the demise of the biosphere. Each of these can be taken as symptoms of something profoundly wrong. We will see how writers as far distant as Ovid and as close by as Octavia Butler have imagined radically different relations between humans and the world, and help us reconsider the way we spend our time on this planet.