Deadline: 15 January 2020
Contact: Debby Rosenthal
Email: drosenthal@jcu.edu

Teaching the Literature of Climate Change
Now that we are two decades into the twenty-first century, courses that thematize the literature of climate change have become more and more popular and more of an ethical imperative to teach. Students today need to understand the global environmental devastation they will inherit, and the literary imagination uniquely addresses such consequences as warming temperatures, desertification, sea-level rise, climate refugees, the spread of disease, and the collapse of our biome. With the proliferation of novels, short stories, poems, drama, and literary criticism about the Anthropocene, instructors may struggle to figure out what might most usefully speak to their students and how to approach such materials.

Scholars interested in contributing a 3,000–4,000-word essay are invited to submit a 250–500-word abstract outlining their approach to teaching the literature of climate change and its utility for students and instructors. The deadline for abstracts is 15 January 2020. E-mail submissions and queries should be sent to Debby Rosenthal (drosenthal@jcu.edu) with the subject line “Teaching the Literature of Climate Change.” Permission from students must be obtained for any relevant quotations in the essay. Previously published essays cannot be considered. Learn more about the MLA’s guidelines for submissions.

Posted on November 26, 2019