Blackness in the Anthropocene
PHIL 353
Fall 2020 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
AFAM 353 |
| Course Cluster and Certificates: Sustainability and Environmental Justice |
To deny the "unprecedented" geological impact of humans' force on nature is now practically untenable. Theorists in the humanities, nonetheless, remain unimpressed with what this "new era" has afforded us in terms of critical potential. From accusations that what we now call the "Anthropocene" has merely established a hegemony of brute facts at the expense of critique, to concerns about the multiple ways in which the term continues to obscure catastrophic socio-ecological relations, it is fair to say that the scenes of the "Anthropocene" are still contested terrains. The aim of this course is to investigate the Anthropecene's many forms of socio-political erasures and theoretical "blind-sights." We will examine the ways in which Anthropocenean discourses have been powerful at disavowing racial antagonism in our current ecological crisis. More specifically, in this course, will study the ecological negative effects on black communities around the globe with the aim to questions the shortcomings of ethics in Anthropocenean times. We will explore questions like "who are 'recognizable/legitimate' victims in environmental disasters," "do events like hurricane Katrina or the migration crisis teach us anything about our human condition," and "what is the 'post' in post-humanism." We will read philosophical works ranging from Immanuel Kant and Baruch Spinoza to Rosi Braidotti and Karen Barad. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS PHIL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (PHIL)(PHIL-Philosophy)(PHIL-Social Jus)(STS) |
Major Readings:
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency
Rosi Braidotti, The Posthuman
Coole and Frost, New Materialism
Jane Bennett, Vibrant Matter: a political ecology of things
Donna Harraway, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene
Gruisin, Anthropocene Feminism
Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, Becoming Human: Matter and Meaning in an Antiblack World
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Examinations and Assignments:
presentation 20%; 4 short papers 60%; attendance and participation 20% |
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