Ken Hiltner
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  • Walden
    • Beginning
    • Preface
    • Table of Contents
    • Editor’s Introduction
    • Economy
    • Where I Lived & What I lived For
    • Reading
    • Sounds
    • Solitude
    • Visitors
    • The Bean-Field
    • The Village
    • The Ponds
    • Baker Farm
    • Higher Laws
    • Brute Neighbors
    • House-Warming
    • Former Inhabitants & Winter Visitors
    • Winter Animals
    • The Pond in Winter
    • Spring
    • Conclusion
    • On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
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ENGLISH 23

(A.K.A. CLIMATE CRISIS 101)

Week #4

Front only the essential facts of life

Weekly Assignments

Reading

Please read the Preface, Introduction, and first chapter (“Economy“) of Walden, which can all be read on this website.

Incidentally, although Thoreau is a major proponent of a simple lifestyle in the West, this tradition exists in a range of cultures. Here the Dalai Lama weighs in on the subject:

“If one’s life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness. Having few desires, feeling satisfied with what you have, is very vital; satisfaction with just enough food, clothing, shelter to protect yourself from the elements. And finally, there is an intense delight in abandoning faulty states of mind and in cultivating helpful ones in meditation.”

After reading it, please comment on it in the weekly Canvas reading discussion.

Films

Please watch either the documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things or the alternative films listed below according to these guidelines:

1) If you have NOT taken Eng 22 (Intro to L & E) in in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023, please watch Minimalism. It is available for viewing on GauchoSpace (GauchoCast). If you are not enrolled in the class, it currently streams from Netflix, as well as can be rented for a relatively modest fee from YouTube, Amazon, Google, etc.

2) If you have taken taken Eng 22 in in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023, please instead watch both of these two short films on Youtube: Visualizing a Plenitude Economy and The High Price of Materialism.

3) Since we will be considering each of them in class, feel free to watch all the videos.

After watching one of the above films, please go to Canvas to make a comment on it.

Lectures

The following two lectures will be delivered live in Campbell Hall during the Tuesday and Thursday class periods. If you miss class or would like to review them (for exam prep, for example), here they are. For your convenience, they can be accessed below as either PDFs, audio podcasts, or YouTube videos.

Reading 4, Walden (2024)

download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast

Note that, while listening to this section being narrated, you could also read along. Some people find that such “Immersion Reading” helps them concentrate and learn better. Feel free to give it a try.

Film 4, Minimalism (2024)

download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast

Note that, while listening to this section being narrated, you could also read along. Some people find that such “Immersion Reading” helps them concentrate and learn better. Feel free to give it a try.

In addition, please watch, read, or listen to the following short lectures:

Why the climate crisis is a cultural

rather than just technological problem (2024)

download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast

Note that, while listening to this section being narrated, you could also read along. Some people find that such “Immersion Reading” helps them concentrate and learn better. Feel free to give it a try.

Why electric cars are more trouble than good (2024)

download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast

Note that, while listening to this section being narrated, you could also read along. Some people find that such “Immersion Reading” helps them concentrate and learn better. Feel free to give it a try.

Flying, the absolute worst thing that you can do

during a climate crisis (2024)

download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast

Note that, while listening to this section being narrated, you could also read along. Some people find that such “Immersion Reading” helps them concentrate and learn better. Feel free to give it a try.

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