Diffracting: Reflections on Ecolit

I spent the summer before fall semester excited to take Ecological Imaginings, a class I described to my friends and family as an ecological English class that was somehow connected to feminism. That is still how I view the class, though now I have more of an idea 1) what ecological English is and 2) how feminism is connected to the environment. The beginning of the class was structured very well for the way that I learn. I learn through doing things- through moving my body, and exploring things in my own time. The first ecological ramble was suited very well for this kind of learning. I enjoyed looking at Bryn Mawr’s campus through new eyes and then writing about this experience. For my site sits I always spent at least an hour outside and wrote about whatever seemed pertinent about the experience at the time.

As the semester progressed I became more confused. What did learning in an ecological way mean? How should I go about doing it? I have never been asked to think “ecologically,” so for me so it was a bit of a stretch. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the different ecological lenses that I was able to try on in the process. I explored (and thoroughly enjoyed) David Bohm’s “rheomode” by trying to write all of my own observations in active, “natural” language. I thought about the pros and cons, as well as the implications of being “anthropocentric.” I wrote poetry, did research on native species, and then did walks while looking for said native species. I also thought a little bit about the issue of genre in ecological writing. This included the possibility of newly emerging genres like narrative ecology in order to make discussions of the environment less dry and one sided, in addition to ecological dystopia, as our impending ecological crisis become more apparent. I also meditated on the importance of human senses and the relation of these senses to nature when Carmen Papalia came to lead our class on a blind field shuttle. To borrow a phrase from froggies315’s final teach-in, “I have arrived where I am. It is not where I was.” I have certainly learned a lot, and I hope that my comments both in class and on Serendip have helped others to learn as well.

I had a fairly even mix of stand-alone work and comments on the reflections of other classmates. I really like the interactive nature of Serendip and how easy it is to have a real conversation online. I put a lot of effort into everything that I wrote online because I was aware of the fact that anything I have ever written comes up in a single Google search. Having the feeling that I was writing for a much larger audience was definitely beneficial. I am very proud of all that I have written and accomplished this semester.  

Currently I am in a place where I understand the complexity of environmental issues, and I can comprehend the theory. The one connecting factor that I struggled with was, where to go from here. I was so excited to write about people’s environmental stories in my final paper, but after I did I was left with the nagging question “So What?” But I have come to a kind of conclusion. The “so what” is that there is no single “so what.” There is no single narrative. There are hundreds and thousands and millions and zillions of different ecological narratives. And this is a good thing. Because where there are stories, there are people thinking and hoping and remembering and planning. Where there are people who can tell stories there are people who can come up with solutions. The one solution that I offer is more of a jumping-off point. As in any good argument, the author must define her terms. I believe that we all must agree on definitions. “Environment”, “Nature”, and “Ecology” must have solid definitions. They may have multiple sub-definitions, but the main idea must be plain. To begin, the environment is something that is all around us. It is something that humans are inextricably a part of. We have to remember that our waste goes somewhere. We have to be careful with what few resources we have.

The edges of my learning in this course have been simultaneously broad (they essentially reach to infinity) and condensed. I see the multitude of existing environmental ideas, but I also see the need for standardization of terms, so that we can all be sure of what we are talking about. This defining of terms is of paramount importance.

The picture that I picked for my portfolio represents the trajectory of my learning in this class. I started out on earth, standing on solid ground, surrounded by what I thought was “natural” and then was swept into the cosmos as the ideas and themes of the class became less and less concrete and provable. Also, there are as many stars in the universe as there are ecological stories here on earth.