ENGLISH 23
(A.K.A. CLIMATE CRISIS 101)
Week #1
The injustice of it all
Weekly Assignments
Reading
Please read “Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99%,” which is a November 2023 production of Oxfam that is introduced by Greta Thunberg. (If the link does not work, here is an archived copy.)
After reading it, please comment on it in the weekly Canvas reading discussion.
Films
Please watch either the documentary Before the Flood or An Inconvenient Sequel according to these guidelines:
1) If you have not taken Eng 22 (Intro to L & E) in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023, please watch Before the Flood. It is available for viewing on GauchoSpace (GauchoCast). If you are not enrolled in the class, it can be rented for a relatively modest fee from YouTube, Amazon, Google, etc.
2) If you have taken taken Eng 22 in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023, please instead watch An Inconvenient Sequel, also available on GauchoCast. If you are not enrolled in the class, it can be rented for a relatively modest fee from YouTube, Amazon, Google, etc.
3) Since we will be considering each, feel free to watch both videos.
After watching one of the above films, please go to Canvas to make a comment on it.
If you enjoyed Before the Flood, you might want to catch DiCaprio’s most recent film on the climate crisis: Don’t Look Up! Details are at the bottom of this page.
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.
Please note: Lectures marked as 2023 are from last year. The 2024 lectures will be uploaded once they are delivered.
Overview (2024)
view course website / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast
Reading 1, Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99% (2024)
download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast
In addition, please watch, read, or listen to the following lecture at a time of your choosing:
Film 1, Before the Flood and An Inconvenient Sequel (2024)
download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast
Don’t Look Up!
Although not a requirement of this course, if you happen to get Netflix, you might be interested in watching Leonardo DiCaprio’s most recent film on the climate crisis: Don’t Look Up!
If you are curious about DiCaprio’s take on the film, in this short YouTube video he unfolds the message of the film and explains how it brings “an element of dark comedy to what seems to be a daunting issue.”
Don’t Look Up! wrestles with one of the central questions of this course: how do we effectively communicate the seriousness of the climate crisis? Surprisingly, the film has not been well received by critics, although climate scientists and activists often love it. For an analysis of why this may be the case, see this article by David Vetter in Forbes on “Why Sneering Critics Dislike Netflix’s ‘Don’t Look Up,’ But Climate Scientists Love It.”