Difference between revisions of "2021-22 AM Natural History in Contemporary Fiction"

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*'''Course:''' 3.02.150
 
*'''Course:''' 3.02.150
 
*'''Time:''' Thursday 12-14h
 
*'''Time:''' Thursday 12-14h
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*'''Venue:''' V03 0-D001
+
*'''Venue:''' A13 0-028
  
−
*'''Course Description''':
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*'''Course Description''': Contemporary perspectives on natural history are most perceptible in museums of natural history. Contemporary fiction, too, explores this historically specific interest in nature, once which precedes the scientific method. Natural history is linked to individual representatives like Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Darwin or Henry David Thoreau, as much as to societies of natural history. In this seminar, we will trace various contemporary perspectives on the enthusiasm of naturalists but also questions of gender, imperial complicity, and claims of objectivity. We will start by looking at the history of natural history and the distinction between natural history and science. We will read examples of narratives written by natural historians and then proceeds by reading fictional narratives written in the twenty-first century about naturalists in the 20th century. We will examine continuities and discontinuities between this interest and the focus on Victorian naturalists in neo-Victorian fiction; the role of the explorer subject; their travel adventures and descriptions of landscapes, flora and fauna from Alaska to the South Pacific to South America.
  
 
Please, '''buy and read''' the following novels:  
 
Please, '''buy and read''' the following novels:  

Revision as of 12:46, 19 October 2021

  • Course: 3.02.150
  • Time: Thursday 12-14h
  • Venue: A13 0-028
  • Course Description: Contemporary perspectives on natural history are most perceptible in museums of natural history. Contemporary fiction, too, explores this historically specific interest in nature, once which precedes the scientific method. Natural history is linked to individual representatives like Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Darwin or Henry David Thoreau, as much as to societies of natural history. In this seminar, we will trace various contemporary perspectives on the enthusiasm of naturalists but also questions of gender, imperial complicity, and claims of objectivity. We will start by looking at the history of natural history and the distinction between natural history and science. We will read examples of narratives written by natural historians and then proceeds by reading fictional narratives written in the twenty-first century about naturalists in the 20th century. We will examine continuities and discontinuities between this interest and the focus on Victorian naturalists in neo-Victorian fiction; the role of the explorer subject; their travel adventures and descriptions of landscapes, flora and fauna from Alaska to the South Pacific to South America.

Please, buy and read the following novels:

  • Thomas McGuire, Steller's Orchid. Boreal, 2019. (also available via MUSE: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/71564)
  • Rachel Joyce, Miss Benson's Beetle [2020]. Penguin, 2021.
  • Susan Gaines, Accidentals. Torrey House, 2020.
  • optional (we will read excerpts from this): E.O. Wilson, Anthill: A Novel. Norton, 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: Use the time until the beginning of term to order (and, ideally, immerse yourself in the reading of) the novels. Additional materials for preparation, as well as the detailed syllabus, will be made available here and/or on Stud.IP.

  • Course Requirements
  • Requirements for 6 KP: regular attendance and a (oral/)written contribution in the form of either a presentation + written outline (10-12 pp) or seminar paper (15 pp), based on the topic of the seminar.
  • As part of the "Aktive Teilnahme" regulation: 
    Die aktive Teilnahme besteht aus folgenden Komponenten
    - regelmäßige Anwesenheit: max. 3 Abwesenheiten und gegebenenfalls Nacharbeit
    - Vor- und Nachbereitung des Seminarstoffs (Expertengruppen, Vorbereitung/Lektüre von Texten) 
    - Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Fragestellung aus dem Problembereich des Seminars, durch:
      *Übernahme von Ergebnispräsentationen (Gruppenarbeit) und 
      *Entwicklung einer Research Paper Outline im Laufe des Semesters: 
       Wahl eines Themenbereichs (bis letzte Sitzung vor Weihnachten),
       Abstract mit Fragestellung inkl. Forschungsbibliographie (RPO) (bis 24. Jan), 
       Vorstellung der Fragestellung (letzte Semestersitzung).

Session 1: 21 October

  • Introductory session
  • Welcome: Please read my message under 'Ankündigungen on Stud.IP'; familiarize yourself with the draft syllabus that you find here and note the course requirements.

Session 2: 28 October

  • Contexts:
  • Reading and discussion:
  • Tasks:

Session 3: 4 November

  • Contexts:
  • Reading and discussion:
  • Tasks:

Session 4: 11 November

  • Contexts:
  • Reading and discussion:
  • Tasks:

Session 5: 18 November

  • Contexts:
  • Reading and discussion:
  • Presentation:
  • Tasks:

Session 6: 25 November

  • Contexts: Recap
  • Reading and discussion:
  • Tasks: (see Stud.IP announcements)

Session 7: 2 December

  • Reading and discussion:
  • Presentation:
  • Tasks:

Session 8: 9 December

  • Contexts:
  • Tasks:
  • Presentation:

Session 9: 16 December

  • Contexts:
  • Tasks:
  • Presentation:

Session 10: 6 January

  • Contexts:
  • Tasks:
  • Presentations:

Session 11: 13 January

  • Contexts:
  • Presentations:

Session 12: 20 January

  • wrapping up: final discussion

Session 13: 27 January

Session 14: 03 February

  • discussion of research papers
  • feedback on evaluation 
  [Hand in research papers until 15 March 2021]

Tools

Primary Reading

  • see above

Further Reading

  • Bruce Clarke and Manuela Rossini (eds.). The Routledge Companion to Literature and Science. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2011. [Esp. chapters on natural history and natural philosophy in Part III, pp. 407-485]
  • John G.T. Anderson. Deep Things Out of Darkness: a History of Natural History. Berkley, CA: U of California P., 2013.
  • William Beebe (ed.). The Book of Naturalists: An Anthology of the Best Natural History. [1944] Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1988.

Quotes

Links

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