ENGL 265 B: Introduction to Environmental Humanities

The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations. We acknowledge the people – past, present, and future – of the Dkhw’Duw’Absh, the Duwamish Tribe, the Muckleshoot Tribe, and other tribes on whose ancestral lands we study and work.  

ENGL 256 B: Introduction to Environmental Humanities 

Who is “environment,” what is “human”? 

Winter Quarter 2026 MW 11:30-1:20 SMI 305 

ERIN GILBERT 

Email: eringil@uw.edu 

Office: M 1:30-2:30 (and by appointment, please email)  

COURSE DESCRIPTION 

Environmental humanities is an interdisciplinary field that asks how we humans—who are simultaneously a part of and dependent on the rest of the natural world—imagine and represent ourselves, the beings around us, and what we have come to call "the environment" or "nature." This is an urgent question at a time of accelerating climate change and the sixth mass extinction, and our collective answers will shape the future of life on earth for all beings, ourselves included.  

Environmental humanities help us understand how humans have tried to answer this question in the past and continue to ask the same question and experiment with different answers today. We will explore the porous and fluid boundaries of bodies, how animal and plant studies complicate modern definitions of “human,” and the limits of language and possibilities for communication both within and across species.  We will read widely and deeply—looking to poetry, short stories, films, novellas, and novels as well as peer-reviewed scholarly articles to illuminate our understanding of what humans are and who participates in multispecies worldmaking. 

By the end of the quarter, each learner will have established and documented companionable relations with a nonhuman, an "oddkin," gained fluency and confidence discussing literary texts and their entangled social and environmental implications, and developed critical capacities for investigating narratives as both material and cultural products of situated knowledge within a real world teeming with matter and life. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 

• Students can appreciate the value and challenge of difference and disagreement. (Analytical) 

• Students understand the investments, contexts, and effects of the kind of close/critical reading skills or approaches under study/use. (Analytical; Disciplinary; Writing) 

• Students are acquainted with a range of texts useful to understanding the course topic and to doing future work in this area. (Disciplinary) 

• Students have an appreciation for and knowledge of literature’s relationship to related areas or disciplines. (Analytical; Disciplinary) 

• Students develop more sophisticated discussion and presentation skills in the interest of being better able to construct and defend their own arguments or interpretations. (Analytical; Disciplinary; Writing) 

READINGS: 

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS AN ANALOG COURSE AND THE READINGS AND (GRADED) ANNOTATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED ON PAPER

(This course requires intensive reading and discussion, so whenever possible, read ahead. Just be mindful of the assigned reading schedule in the course calendar below and within each module so that you  don't introduce any spoilers into course discussions for anyone who hasn't been able to read ahead that week.) 

Academic Articles, Essays, and Book Chapters (in your course packet at EZ Copy N Print) 

“Unruly Edges: The Mushroom as Companion Species,” Anna Tsing 

“How to think (as) a body of water: Access, amplify, describe!” Astrida Neimanis  

“Why Look at Animals?” Dan Berger 

“An Overview of Anthropocentrism, Humanism, and Speciesism in Critical Animal Theory,” Adam Weitzenfeld and Melanie Joy 

“The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon

“An Introduction to Discard Studies,” Max Liboiron 

“Phytognosis: Learning from Plants,” Patricia Vieira 

“The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism” Sylvia Wynter  

Poetry (in your course packet at EZ Copy N Print)

“Praise Song for Oceania,” Craig Santos Perez 

“Sea Unicorns and Land Unicorns,” Marianne Moore 

“A Barred Owl,” Richard Wilbur 

“All Dogs Go to Heaven,” Nikki Wallschlaeger 

“Banana Palace,” Dana Levin 

“The Bats Arrived,” Marosa di Giorgio 

“My God, It’s Full of Stars,” Tracy K. Smith  

“Wind in a Box,” Terence Hayes  

Film (screened in class)

Lost and Beautiful, Pietro Marcello 

Short Story (in your course packet at EZ Copy N Print)

“On Exactitude in Science,” Jorge Luis Borges 

Novels/Novellas (available for purchase at the UW bookstore)

Self-Portrait in Green, Marie NDiaye 

Fox 8, George Saunders 

A Luminous Republic, Andrés Barba 

After World, Debbie Urbanski 

ASSIGNMENTS 

Making Oddkin: The Companion Species Journal and Photo Album and Reading Response Prompts 

Following Donna Haraway's invitation to make kin with nonhuman beings, students will identify one individual plant or fungi to visit and document throughout the quarter. These regular visits, photos, and short prompted writing sessions provide practice for developing strong observational writing, enhance seasonal awareness, and often result in a greater awareness and affinity between each student and their chosen oddkin.  (Graded weekly as complete or incomplete 20%) (site-specific Canvas submissions throughout the quarter) 

Service and Leadership (Course Readings, Quotes and Questions, Peer Reviews, and In-Class Discussions) 

Students earn credit by completing the readings, identifying and annotating specific passages for further discussion, and contributing to the in-class discussions using hand-written annotation notes in the course packet and physical books with laptops closed. Additional writing prompts will capture thoughts about weekly readings. (Graded as complete or incomplete) 20% (in-person, in-notebook, and Canvas submissions depending on assignment, throughout the quarter) 

Midterm Story-Map Project 

The midterm will ask you to create a multimodal site-specific story-map—a work of creative nonfiction that connects course readings to your observations, thoughts, and experiences of a specific place. (Graded according to rubric.) 20% (Link to final draft due on Canvas, Jan. 24, midnight) 

Final (Oddkin) Group Presentation and Self-Reflection 

At the end of the quarter, and in collaboration with 3-5 other students, you will create a presentation that brings together a few choice quotes and photos from your companion species journal and photo album and connects them to a key concept you learned about during the quarter as well as one of the literary texts you read. The goal is to highlight what you’ve learned by attending to a nonhuman companion all quarter, render observational and interpretive skills transferrable, and craft your own multispecies narrative. (Graded according to rubric.) 20% (Script and Images due on Canvas, Feb. 21, presentations due in class the first week of December)  

Final Exam 

The in-class final will ask you to identify specific passages from the course readings and craft short answers in response to questions about key concepts covered in class throughout the quarter. The best way to prepare for the final is to annotate texts in your course packet and readings thoughtfully, look for connections between them throughout the quarter, and reflect on your own experiences (this will help you with the midterm project and the final group presentation as well). The final exam is intended to give you the chance to respond to the entire course, rather than the selections you may have focused on in earlier assignments. (Graded according to rubric.) 20% (Mar. 10, 10:30-12:20) 

COURSE POLICIES  

Participation: In this course, as in many participatory lecture courses that require intensive reading, much of the learning happens through a combination of reading and preparing questions at home and in-class discussion and activities, so preparation and in-class participation are both especially important! Service and Leadership assignments are almost always completed in class and graded as complete or incomplete. If you have to miss class due to an illness or emergency, submit a note on Canvas where you would normally turn in the assignment you missed asking to have it excused (you can do this twice in a quarter, just specify if you’re asking for the first time or the second time). Since this course meets twice a week, if you miss more than two days, you’ll be missing more than 10% of the instruction and practice designed to support your success, at which point it would be a good idea to set up a meeting with me to figure out how to proceed so you don’t fall further behind. See “Deadlines” below for how to handle coursework due outside of class in cases of illness or emergency. 

Deadlines: Assignments designed for the use of classmates (including discussion posts, in-class group activities, and peer review drafts and feedback) won’t be accepted late because they’re no longer useful to your classmates after the deadline. On the other hand, if you are struggling to finish a big assignment and need more time, reach out to me before the deadline to request a 1–2-day extension, and I will be happy to grant your request—but you need to request the extension in order to receive it. If you don’t reach out, I can’t grant an extension, and the assignment grade will drop 10% a day 

Large Language Models  (LLMs) and Generative AI (GenAI): Nonhuman participation in human meaning-making and worldbuilding is a central preoccupation of this course, so we will discuss emergent technologies and the role of LLMs/GenAI in our world, lives, and futures. However, while an LLM/GenAI tool like ChatGPT can paraphrase ideas and concepts they cannot understand them, and their energy cost has proven to be extremely high and extremely dirty. Your role, as a student, isn’t to write about these texts the way an LLM does—repeating and reformulating ideas according to predictable patterns to generate a generic overview (that obsessively follows the "rule of threes" and overuses words like "tapestry")—your role is to see how  ideas and concepts seep into your consciousness and change you as a thinker and writer, and then report back about that change in written, visual, or verbal form. Your task is intellectual, ethical, and entangled—you’re drawing on your own distinct and situated perspective, you’re working to use your embodied presence in the material world to interact with your environment, and you’re doing the contradictory, messy, creative work of expressing what those interactions mean to you in the moment, given what you’re learning. 

Academic Integrity: The University takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of our responsibility to our shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, ask me. I am willing to discuss questions you might have. 

Acts of academic misconduct may include but are not limited to: 

• Cheating (working collaboratively on quizzes/exams and discussion submissions, sharing answers, and previewing quizzes/exams) 

• Plagiarism (representing the work of others—including LLMs/GenAI—as your own without giving appropriate credit to the original author(s)) 

• Unauthorized collaboration (working with each other on assignments intended to be completed by one student alone) 

Concerns about these or other behaviors prohibited by the Student Conduct Code will be referred for investigation and adjudication by (include information for specific campus office). Students found to have engaged in academic misconduct may receive a zero on the assignment (or another possible outcome). 

Religious Accommodation: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request). 

Access and Accommodation: Your experience in this class is important to me. It is also the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so we can discuss how they will be implemented in this course. If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), contact DRS directly to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations. Contact DRS at disability.uw.edu.  

RESOURCES 

Safety: Call SafeCampus at 206-685-7233 anytime – no matter where you work or study – to anonymously discuss safety and well-being concerns for yourself or others. SafeCampus’s team of caring professionals will provide individualized support, while discussing short- and long-term solutions and connecting you with additional resources when requested. 

The UW Food Pantry provides food to students, staff, and faculty who may be experiencing short-term food insecurity.  It could be the result of a short-term disruption in finances, a food desert in the local community, or a lack of access to other financial assistance. Visitors are welcome to shop in person once per week and receive 2-3 days’ worth of food. The food pantry provides shelf stable products, UW Farm organic produce, ready-to-eat items from campus dining locations, and hygiene products at no cost to visitors. 

Husky Helpline: If you are in crisis and need to talk to someone, Husky HelpLine operated by Telus (formally MySSP) to give students access to same-day, confidential mental health and crisis intervention support, 24/7 and in multiple languages. Husky HelpLine is available to support you to same-day access to a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. 

The Q Center facilitates and enhances a brave, affirming, liberatory, and celebratory environment for students, faculty, staff, and alumni of all sexual and gender orientations, identities, and expressions. 

The Clue Writing Center in Mary Gates Hall (141 suite, CUADSS lobby) is open Sunday to Thursday from 7pm to midnight. The graduate tutors can help you with your claims, organization, and grammar. You do not need to make an appointment, so arrive early and be prepared to wait.  

The Odegaard Writing and Research Center is open in Odegaard Library Monday - Thursday 9am to 9pm, Friday 9am to 4:30pm, and Sunday 12pm to 9pm. This writing center provides a research-integrated approach to writing instruction. Find more information and/or make an appointment on the website: depts.washington.edu/owrc.  

COURSE CALENDAR  

(Subject to change—consult Canvas, email me with questions, or better yet, come by during my office hours!)