Energy Legacies and Ecological Futures
HIST 161
Fall 2025
| Section:
01
|
| Crosslisting:
ENVS 249, STS 161 |
Manresa Island, on the coast of South Norwalk, Connecticut, was the site of an NRG coal-fired power plant (and later oil). The plant, slated for decommission, was shuttered overnight after heavy flooding during Hurricane Sandy. Its planned transformation, funded by a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, includes the remaking of its massive turbine hall as a community space and the remediation of the entire peninsula for use as a public park. The 125-acre site includes a birch forest on a coal ash dump, salt marsh, and other coastal wetland habitats that currently harbor populations turkey, osprey, and deer. Casual observers liken Manresa's abandoned spaces to those of Chernobyl, with the detritus of human settlement engulfed by resurgent vegetation and wildlife. This flawed analogy obscures as much as it reveals, conjuring ethically compromised aesthetics of post-industrial ruin photography and associated practices of dark tourism. But there is a parallel history of energy, hazard, and aftermath with which we have yet to reckon locally or globally. The objective of this course is to produce histories of energy transition calling on (1) records of Manresa Island recently acquired by the 501(c)3, and (2) the testimonies of NRG workers present during Hurricane Sandy. The course will train students in modalities of archival and oral history with reference to these untapped resources. This course will require 2-4 field site visits to Manresa Island, to be scheduled 12-5 p.m. Thursday or Friday. Multiple scheduling options will be available, and students should be able to commit to at least two field trips per semester. Transportation will be provided. |
|
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (Environmental Studies Minor)(Environmental Studies)(History Minor)(History) |
|
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
|
|
|