Graduate Handbook

Advice from the Membership

The following advice from ASLE members was offered in response to the survey questions given below.

From the 1st edition

"What suggestions would you give a prospective graduate student about studies in literature and environment?"

Find others interested in the subject and make contacts in Environmental Studies and Environmental History. (Kaye Adkins)

Literature is the communication tool and the environment is the subject matter. One without the other is useless. (William Alexander)

Get a good grounding in the national/ethnic literature of your choice. Then study the great variety of literature as a professional with a research focus in environmental literature (global). Avoid "ideological purity" and "political correctness." It/they have severely misrepresented the dissent (the meaningful, risky dissent) of Thoreau, Emerson, Wordsworth, Abbey, Lawrence, etc. etc. etc. The "dead dissenters" who happen to be white males are not the enemy. Only an insulated academic could see it that way. The fight is too important for such narrow intolerance. Be a free thinker instead. Avoid party lines. Read Murder at the MLA. No fear. (Robert Begiebing)

Cover your asses until you get tenure. Cover them with lead and uranium. (William Bonney)

Choose a program with broad support for environmental studies throughout the humanities (not just English). (Michael Branch)

Although I am hopeful the job market is there/will increase I just don't know. The interdisciplinary aspect of this study may be a problem. A lot of exciting work is going on -- that in itself may outweigh potential job market concerns. (Stuart C. Brown)

I still think of it as a risky specialization, in terms of limiting job possibilities, unless it is combined in some way with the study of more canonical methods/authors. This situation is changing, however -- fortunately. (Lawrence Buell)

Get a solid background in biology, ecology, botany. Science desperately needs articulate spokespeople [to] bridge the gap between science and literature. Take field courses in natural history, geology, etc. The best literature about the environment is the book of nature! 'Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.' Go outside and observe! (Greg Gordon)

Be open to and aware of possibilities -- just because a department or school doesn't have a reputation for lit and environment doesn't mean you couldn't find what you want there. One or two faculty members can make the difference, so pay attention to faculty interests, check out what they publish on and where. You never know. (George Hart)

I think it is important to get outside the English Dept. and take courses in biology, physics, anthropology, poli science so you know the subject matter -- the natural world. The degree to which you do this is dictated by whether you're going to write nature literature or study it. As a writer, I think every non-lit course I took was invaluable because I knew I could write from a truly interdisciplinary knowledge base. (Marybeth Holleman)

To the extent possible, narrow down possible dissertation topics before entering the program, so that the research and papers you complete during your coursework can build into your dissertation topic. Fight for what you want to do, and find the supportive faculty that will let you do it -- they're out there! (Mark Hoyer)

Be sure this is really what you want to do. Try to find out if there is any institutional resistance to this field of study in your prospective program. (Richard Hunt)

Read! Read! Read! Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Roderick Nash, Annie Dillard, Barry Lopez, Wallace Stegner, Edward Abbey, Ann Zwinger, Gary Nabhan, Terry Tempest Williams, Rachel Carson, Paul Ehrlich, Gary Snyder, Bob Marshall, Wendell Berry, John Wesley Powell, Henry David Thoreau, Wes Jackson, Gifford Pinchot, Loren Eiseley, Mary Austin. (Verne Huser)

[O]ur ability to work in harmony with the environment is dependent on our gathering and sharing our own and another's wisdom. That's where the literature part comes in. I would urge anyone with this passion to pursue it, for it can only help -- in the largest sense of that word -- whatever path one chooses. I cannot recommend professors or courses, but only life experience. Being in the environment and writing are the keys, far more than secondary evidence of either of those. This requires awareness and presence, "mindfulness" as the Buddhists call it, of who we are and where we are. I believe it's time to encourage people to experience life directly, and to get outside of classrooms and outside of our heads -- or at least include our hearts --while we do this. (Harriet Kolfalk)

Check carefully that you pick a school where there are outstanding scholars in both lit and environmental studies/geography/natural resource studies. And then see if they'll work together, cooperatively, with you. And find a congenial dept that will allow you to put together your own PhD course of study -- within limitations, of course. (Annette Kolodny)

I would suggest that you go to places you love and start such programs, rather than expect them to be there for you. Focus on interdisciplinarity and don't get stuck in lit. or phil. or what not. (Gretchen Legler)

Certainly [study in literature and environment] is to be encouraged as another 'string to a candidate's bow' (like expertise in Native American literature; folklore; colonial literature; etc.) but at present I would not encourage a student hoping to gain a PhD in English and employment to concentrate in the subject. Begging the question of employment, if such a concentration were to prevent the student from gaining a reasonably good grasp of American and/or British literature, literary history, and theory, it would be a great mistake. To put this point more positively, look at the richly-informed work on eco-lit of William Howarth! (Jarold Ramsey)

Find out who is writing in the field and telephone them, maybe after reading some of their work. (David Robertson)

"Go West, young man" (or woman). (Barton L. St. Armand)

Before you apply to grad schools, identify and read scholars whose work influences you. Choose a mentor(s) well in advance of actually coming to graduate school. At virtually every major research institution you should be able to find, once you get there, 3-5 scholars who have expertise in the field. Then, demonstrate your interest and purpose by visiting with them often and taking their courses and writing good stuff. (Don Scheese)

I would advise prospective graduate students to be creative, flexible, and determined. I think it's actually possible to develop a special expertise in the field of literature and the environment at any university in the country, even if there are no faculty members there who have demonstrated a similar interest yet. Sometimes you just have to take courses in other subjects and then find a way to give your own papers an environmental twist -- normally such independence will be rewarded, I think, but it's important to keep in mind the concerns and biases of the individual professors and to direct projects towards this audience (often, for English graduate students, this means studying environmental literature just as one would approach any other literary topic, not always explicitly emphasizing the political side of environmental issues). Also, I would recommend that graduate students in literature in environment try to find outside thesis readers (leading scholars in the field who teach at other universities and colleges). And, for collegial support and other networking advantages, I think it's important for graduate students to make every effort to attend at least occasional conferences where literature and environment is discussed, especially during the final years of a PhD program. Above all, try not to be daunted if other students and professors at your institution don't know or care about literature and environment -- there is tremendous national and international interest in this field, and the enthusiasm is growing. Besides, part of the fun in this field is the feeling of exploring uncharted territory. (Scott Slovic)

At the predoctoral level, study literature separately, keeping environmental or nature writing and its study as an avocation -- But do try to accumulate courses in a specific area of environmental studies or a related science. Combine interests only in thesis or in post-doctoral activities. (James H. Stebbings)

The study of literature and environment is going to come to ground as often as not in your teaching. Ideally, all ASLE scholars could use their places in the country's educational system to help save its ecosystem. But, as is abundantly clear, the big problem these days is securing those places, because the job market for literary scholars is so very bleak. While you're in graduate school, give a good deal of thought to your teaching -- especially to teaching rhetoric and composition. Because of current dynamics in post-secondary education, rhetoric and communication and composition are the fields in which jobs are actually becoming more common. Think of ways to incorporate discussion of the environment into your writing classes. Give a paper or two at a local graduate conference in which you discuss how environmental writing bears on other kinds of writing. Submit a paper to a rhetoric, communications, or composition conference if one is convenient to you geographically and philosophically. As soon as you can, begin developing your credentials as a teacher of literature and environmental issues, one who knows how to apply those issues in a writing classroom -- you need a job, and the environment needs you to have a job. (David W. Teague)

Pick a school strong in both Science and Literature. (Ann Zwinger)

From the 2nd edition

"What factors should graduate students consider when choosing a school?"

What one needs as a graduate student is not only, nor even primarily, a notable and accessible member of the faculty "in the field" (since, in this case, "the field" has yet to be defined or even roughly delineated) but rather a set of faculty whose views are broad enough to permit and encourage one's study. Strength in library holdings is particularly crucial. (Peter A. Fritzell)

[In choosing a school], overall reputation is key, a number one priority. (Cheryll Glotfelty)

To be adept in the field, a student of the environment and literature needs to know much more than how to read critically and know the history of the literature he or she reads. Biogeography, political theory and practice, natural history, and many other fields of inquiry converge in this one. Interdisciplinary course work is, therefore, critically important to work in this field. (Hank Harrington)

Expect a very tough job market. Think carefully and at great length if grad school is really what you want or need. (William Howarth)

Consider periods other than 19th and 20th century American. (James Lindstrom)

Do not enter PhD programs with the false hope that you will obtain academic employment teaching this same stuff. Do it because you love it, not because you hope to become a professor. (John P. O'Grady)

Students should choose programs of study mainly on the basis of 1) individual faculty working in the student's field of interest, and 2) breadth of faculty (in case student decides to change focus of study). Learn what ecologists are doing firsthand and in some detail. (David Robertson)

The general morale of graduate students, and the commitment of the institution to support them, is important. (David M. Robinson)

It's important not only to consider institutions with strong formal programs in literature and environment, but to find places with more general programs in literature, American studies, or environmental studies that are flexible enough to encompass our particular discipline. (Scott Slovic)

I think you should consider just how much you personally are committed to this field, and then evaluate how much the institution you have chosen matches that commitment. (Tiffany Trent)

Students should look for a place where graduate students are already organized to lobby for courses and faculty support. (Louise Westling)

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