Being Ecological [6-weeks, $250 Suggested]
Instructor: Stillman | Sundays January 23-February 27 | 5:00-7:00 PM ET
The current climate crisis means there has never been a more important time to rethink our relationship to the earth and its future. In this course, we will imagine ourselves not as isolated individuals, but rather as organic parts of a global ecosystem. We'll look at the moment in history when we first began to see ourselves as organisms in order to examine the cultural struggle between radical ecology and human supremacy. We'll explore the possibility that we are more similar than we realize to non-human beings, from other animals to plants to entire ecosystems. Would it surprise you to learn that forests can think, or that language itself may have evolved out of conversations already happening between fungi and trees, birds and monkeys? We'll also look at how poets have given us tools for understanding those more-than-human conversations, and we'll consider how different cultures have reckoned with the rise of industrial capitalism. As our discussions get political, we'll consider legal strategies for granting political power to rivers, forests and other ecosystems, and we'll delve into science fiction to see how entire constitutions have been imagined that would extend the project of democracy far beyond our single species. Finally, we'll learn from activists like the Water Protectors who fight and live for the global ecosystem. Together we'll produce a social space in which we can find energy and inspiration to live and think differently, with creativity and excitement about the world we inhabit and the future we make.
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We depend on a mix of direct student donations and supplemental donations to make all classes pay-what-you-can. Please pick the pricing tier that corresponds with your needs and that you are able to pay now. If you would like to pay in installments, make your first payment now and make a note on your check-out form. If you would like to donate more later in the term, you can always come back and use the “Make a One Time Donation” button! To use a full scholarship, just pick the $3 tier to cover site/processor fees.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, we will work with you to reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.