Digging into Nature: How Environmental Literature Can Reshape Our Understanding of Today’s Ecological Challenges

This week’s Faculty in Focus is Eric Dean Wilson, an English Professor at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. 

In his Fall 2024 U.S. Environmental Literature course, Professor Wilson and his students partnered with two local institutions - Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens and The Alice Austen House. The course, part of the Periclean Faculty Leadership program, explored “the rhetoric of nature,” examining how non-human nature is represented in literature. It also challenges the idea that today’s environmental concerns are unprecedented, instead reframing them as long-standing issues that have shaped American culture for centuries. Through an analysis of select literary works, students gained insight into how environmental challenges have persisted over time and how artists have engaged with these issues to shape cultural narratives.

---

A key component of this course was experiential learning, with three immersive sessions designed to deepen students’ understanding of environmental engagement. The first session was a visit to Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens, where students explored the Chinese Scholar’s Garden and the Tuscan Garden. This experience highlighted how cultural perspectives shape our relationships with nature and influence environmental assumptions.

In the second session, students returned to Snug Harbor to volunteer at its working wetlands. They learned about invasive species and actively participated in maintaining the environment by removing Japanese knotweed and mugwort. Many students reflected on how this hands-on work fostered a sense of accomplishment and strengthened their commitment to environmental stewardship.

The final session took place at The Alice Austen House, the former home-turned-museum of pioneering photographer Alice Austen. Here, students delved into Austen;s legacy as a queer feminist and contributed to the museum's “queer ecology” garden by planting tulips. They also explored the presence of intersex and non-binary genders in the plant kingdom, broadening their understanding of ecological diversity.

Through these experiences, students came to see themselves not as separate from the environment but as integral parts of it. They developed a heightened awareness of their direct impact on nature and the importance of active engagement in environmental issues.

Reflecting on the course, Professor Wilson noted, “I am immensely grateful for the time and resources that this Periclean Faculty Leadership grant has allowed. The result was a cohort of students who are better prepared to face the complexities of ecological crisis and, perhaps most importantly, convinced that their engagement with the problems can lead to better lives for local community residents.”

Through literature and hands-on experiences, Professor Wilson’s course empowered students to think critically about environmental issues and their role in addressing them.

---