LIT 3622 - Fall 2026 - Sevin

Since its emergence in the 1990s, ecocriticism has undergone a remarkable transformation. What began as a relatively focused inquiry into nature writing has grown into a vibrant field encompassing postcolonial ecologies, urban ecologies, environmental justice, waste studies, animal and plant studies, energy humanities, blue humanities, climate fiction, among other areas of inquiry. Arguably, in just a few decades, ecocriticism has moved from the margins of literary studies to one of its most intellectually dynamic and urgent domains.

This course surveys key recent fields in ecocritical studies through three movements: the more-than-human world (animal studies and plant studies), energy humanities (with particular attention to petrofiction), and climate fiction. Across these movements, we will ask: How does literature challenge the assumption of human exceptionalism? How do narratives render visible the infrastructures of extraction and energy that shape nature and culture alike? And how does climate fiction reshape narrative form, temporality, and scale in order to imagine life on a changing planet?

Our readings will include contemporary novels, short stories, and theoretical texts. The novels may include Open Throat (2023) by Henry Hoke, The Overstory (2018) by Richard Powers, Oil on Water (2010) by Helon Habila, and Our Shared Storm: A Novel of Five Climate Futures (2022) by Andrew Dana Hudson. For theoretical grounding, we will read selections from Plant-Thinking: A Philosophy of Vegetal Life by Michael Marder, The Companion Species Manifesto by Donna Haraway, Energy Humanities by Imre Szeman, and The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable by Amitav Ghosh.