HUM-100 - Introduction to the Humanities - Dr. Adam Kaiserman
| Course: | Introduction to the Humanities |
|---|---|
| Professor: | Dr. Adam Kaiserman |
| Email: | adam.kaiserman@canyons.edu |
| Format: |
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| Course Length: |
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Introduction
My name is Adam Kaiserman, and I am Professor of English at College of the Canyons as well as the chair of our Humanities Program. Before coming to College of the Canyons, I earned my M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Irvine. My primary research interests are in the intersection of media studies and post-1945 American literature. However, over the last two years or so, I’ve become increasingly interested in refocusing my research and teaching around eco-criticism (the literary study of the environment). My Damascus Road moment occurred after reading David Wallace-Wells’s “Uninhabitable Earth” in New York Magazine. Wells documents all of the worst-case scenarios that might happen with climate change. It’s gripping, horrifying reading. Of course, I had known that climate change was a problem—I had just lived through the Thomas Fire in Ventura—but I was a brand-new father then, and the impacts that climate change would have on my son were genuinely devastating. Since then, I’ve tried to green my pedagogy whenever possible.
Course Description
I’ve organized the class along three central questions: How did we get here with climate change? How does the present moment feel? How should we act for the future? In the first unit, we will look at history, specifically Nathaniel Rich’s “Losing Earth: A Recent History.” In the second unit, where we consider our present moment we will look at short stories and personal essays from the collection Tales of Two Planets. In our third section, we will turn our attention to environmental ethics and write our own eco-manifestos.
HUM-100 involves a fair amount of reading regardless of the section. Please make sure that you can dedicate the appropriate amount of time for this class so that you can get all of the reading done for the class. It is critical for your success. Given the reading demands of the course, the humanities program recommends that all students have some experience reading and writing at the college level before taking this class.
I look forward to teaching you over this semester and to hearing from you soon.
What to Expect in this Course
Weekly modules and discussion boards.
Types of Assessments
Weekly discussion boards
Reading journal
Weekly low-stakes quizzes
Two papers
Final
Textbook Information / Link to ZTC Textbook
Tale of Two Planets
Stop Saving the Planet
Additional Resources
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Last updated: 04/21/2022 Sub#: 1337