DAYS:  W 4:30-7:30
CREDITS:  3
LINE NUMBER: 16764
ROOM: WGHL L1-08

Peter Goggin
OFFICE:  LL 308B
OFFICE HOURS: Tues. noon-2:00 & Wed. noon-2:00 (and by appointment)
PHONE EXTENSION: 965-7748
E-MAIL:  goggin1@asu.edu

COURSE CALENDAR: http://www.public.asu.edu/~petergo/courses/eng655/assignmentsSP13.html

TEXTBOOKS:

• Diamond (2005). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
• Donehower, Hogg & Schell (2007). Rural Literacies
• Goggin (2009). Rhetorics, Literacies, and Narratives of Sustainability
• Nixon (2011). Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor
• Killingsworth & Palmer (1992) Ecospeak: Rhetoric and Environmental Politics in America

Additional readings will be provided during the semester.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Even though scholars in English studies are ideally situated to take up the challenge of fostering environmental literacy in the classroom, until quite recently, little practical attention has been paid in the field to such concerns as the welfare of future generations, preservation, and conservation. For the most part we have left these concerns to our colleagues in sciences and social sciences who have a longer tradition of utility embedded in their disciplinary ideals. While scholars of environmental rhetoric such as Jamie Killingsworth have pointed to interest in sustainability as an emerging and growing area of inquiry, others have been less generous. Glen Love states, “Given the fact that most of us in the profession of English would be offended at not being considered environmentally conscious and ecologically aware, how are we to account for our general failure to apply any sense of this awareness to our daily work?” More recently, Derek Owens argues that “composition studies, and, indeed all of English Studies, needs to recognize as a field that sustainability is not only equal in importance to race, class, and gender but also entails many of the concerns associated with those rubrics.” In this course we will explore scholarship in rhetoric and composition that is answering the challenge to open space in transdisciplinary conversations on the environment as we look to a sustainable future.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS (Detailed descriptions of the following required assignments to follow)
 •  seminar paper (including proposal, annotated bibliography, and oral presentation)
 •  in-class colloquium
 •  weekly reader response
 •  participation and attendance

Seminar Paper: You will write a 18-25 page synthesis paper in which you explore one of the key issues that arise out of our discussions about rhetoric, literacy, and sustainability. To help you prepare for the paper, you will write a Paper Proposal and an Annotated Bibliography.

Attendance and Participation : This seminar will rely heavily upon students’ input, so it is a requirement of the class that you attend all sessions and be prepared to engage in the day’s activities. This preparation will involve reading all the required readings, completing any writing assignments, and being on time and ready to go. If you must miss class for any reason, please contact me via e-mail ahead of time and explain the situation. Excessive absences (more than one) may lower your final grade (by one letter grade) because you will not have gotten the full benefit of the course.

Reading Responses: You will write weekly one-page, double-spaced critical responses to the readings. These reading responses are not summaries; instead, they are a chance for you to wrestle with/explore an issue that arises for you as you read.

ASSIGNMENT DEADLINES:
  Seminar paper proposal draft Feb 13
  Seminar paper proposal Feb 20
  Annotated bibliography Mar 27
  Seminar paper Apr 24

OTHER IMPORTANT DATES:
 Mar. 10-17 Spring Break
 Mar. 31 last day course withdrawal

GRADING PERCENTAGES:
 •  Seminar Paper: 40%
 •  Annotated Bibliography: 15%
 •  Paper Proposal: 10%
 •  Reading Responses: 20%
 •  Attendance/Participation/Colloquy: 15%

INCOMPLETES: Please do not assume that an incomplete will be given upon request. University and departmental policy on the handling of incompletes will be followed; only in the case of verified emergencies and illnesses will an incomplete be given.