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Poetry and Science

General data

Course ID:	3301-LA2233-2ST
Erasmus code / ISCED:	09.203 Kod klasyfikacyjny przedmiotu składa się z trzech do pięciu cyfr, przy czym trzy pierwsze oznaczają klasyfikację dziedziny wg. Listy kodów dziedzin obowiązującej w programie Socrates/Erasmus, czwarta (dotąd na ogół 0) – ewentualne uszczegółowienie informacji o dyscyplinie, piąta – stopień zaawansowania przedmiotu ustalony na podstawie roku studiów, dla którego przedmiot jest przeznaczony. / (0231) Language acquisition The ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) code has been designed by UNESCO.
Course title:	Poetry and Science
Name in Polish:	Poezja i nauka
Organizational unit:	Institute of English Studies
Course groups:	(in Polish) Fakultatywne przedmioty dla studiów dziennych z literatury amerykańskiej
ECTS credit allocation (and other scores):	6.00 Basic information on ECTS credits allocation principles: the annual hourly workload of the student’s work required to achieve the expected learning outcomes for a given stage is 1500-1800h, corresponding to 60 ECTS; the student’s weekly hourly workload is 45 h; 1 ECTS point corresponds to 25-30 hours of student work needed to achieve the assumed learning outcomes; weekly student workload necessary to achieve the assumed learning outcomes allows to obtain 1.5 ECTS; work required to pass the course, which has been assigned 3 ECTS, constitutes 10% of the semester student load.
Language:	English
Type of course:	elective courses
Short description:	We will undertake a close and contextual reading of several poems more or less directly alluding to exact sciences, focusing on 21st century poetry, which articulates the tensions of what Lynn Keller describes as „self conscious Anthropocene” (a moment when arts and humanities cannot avoid reflecting on intertwined planetary crises caused by extractive economies). We are going to read and discuss the works of poets who are interested in various scientific disciplines (geology, botany, molecular biology, astrophysics, medicine, ecology), work as researchers or use scientific knowledge or procedures in their creative practices. In the spirit of environmental humanities and going against the popular assumption that poetry stands in opposition to science, we will try to notice affinities between these forms of human attention.
Full description:	We will undertake a close and contextual reading of several poetic texts more or less directly alluding to exact sciences, focusing on 21st century poetry, which articulates the tensions of what Lynn Keller describes as „self conscious Anthropocene” (a moment when arts and humanities cannot avoid reflecting on intertwined planetary crises caused by extractive economies). We will reflect on how contemporary poetry, as experimental art, reacts to the transformation of our environment happening at unprecedented pace as a consequence of anthropogenic destabilisation of the life-supporting systems of the earth (climate change, loss of biodiversity, plastic pollution, shrinking of habitats) and to technological progress (social media, artificial intelligence). During the semester we will read and analyse the writings of poets who are interested in various scientific disciplines (geology, botany, molecular biology, astrophysics, medicine, ecology), work as researchers or use scientific knowledge or procedures in their creative practices. In the spirit of environmental humanities and going against the popular assumption that poetry stands in opposition to science, we will try to notice affinities between these forms of human attention without ignoring the differences. We will treat poetry as an area of investigation, a form of research into the questions of our human relationship with other inhabitants of the earth, or the role of technology in shaping that relationship. Can the tools offered by poetry be useful to science (e.g. to communicate its findings to the public)? The course is organised in collaboration with the Ecopoetological Laboratory (Environmental Humanities Center) and will involve guest workshops (led by by poets and scientists). The reading list will include: Walt Whitman Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Forrest Gander, Brenda Hillman, Adam Dickinson, Evelyn Reilly, Alison Cobb, Tracy K. Smith, Natalie Diaz, as well as theoretical writings by Kate Rigby, Wendy Wheeler i Anny Tsing.
Bibliography:	Cobb, Alison. Plastic: An Autobiography. New York: Nightboat Books, 2018. Dickinson, Adam. Anatomic. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2018. Diaz Natalie. Postcolonial Love Poem. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2020. Gander, Forrest. Be With. New York: New Directions, 2018. Gander, Forrest, Twice Alive. New York: New Directions, 2023. Hillman, Brenda. Cascadia. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. Reilly, Evelyn. Styrofoam. New York: Roof Books, 2009. Rigby, Kate. „Ecopoetics,” Keywords for Environmental Studies, Edited by Joni Adamson, William A. Gleason, and David N. Pellow. New York University Press, 2016. Tsing, Anna. The Mushroom at the End of the World. On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist ruins. Princeton University Press, 2001. Wheeler, Wendy. The Whole Creature. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2015.
Learning outcomes:	Knowledge Students will be able to: K_W01 - Identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of poetics and environmental criticism within the humanities K_W02 - Describe on an advanced level the current trends in literature studies within ecopoetics and environmental humanities K_W04 - Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools of ecopoetics and environmental humanities K_W05 - Identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright Abilities Students will be able to: K_U01 - Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline K_U02 - Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law K_U04 - Analyze linguistic, literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context environmental humanities - Social competences Students will be ready to: K_K01 - Apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies to fulfill societal obligations and undertake actions benefitting the social environment K_K05 - Participate in academic and cultural undertakings offered via various media Education at language level B2+.
Assessment methods and assessment criteria:	attendance - participation in discussions - short written assignments during the semester - term paper 3 absences are allowed.

Classes in period "Winter semester 2023/24" (past)

Time span:	2023-10-01 - 2024-01-28	Selected timetable range: weekly course term Navigate to timetable MO TU W TH CW FR
Type of class:	Classes, 30 hours, 6 places more information
Coordinators:	Julia Fiedorczuk-Glinecka
Group instructors:	Julia Fiedorczuk-Glinecka
Students list:	(inaccessible to you)
Examination:	Course - Grading Classes - Grading
Short description:	We will undertake a close and contextual reading of several poems more or less directly alluding to exact sciences, focusing on 21st century poetry, which articulates the tensions of what Lynn Keller describes as „self conscious Anthropocene” (a moment when arts and humanities cannot avoid reflecting on intertwined planetary crises caused by extractive economies). We are going to read and discuss the works of poets who are interested in various scientific disciplines (geology, botany, molecular biology, astrophysics, medicine, ecology), work as researchers or use scientific knowledge or procedures in their creative practices. In the spirit of environmental humanities and going against the popular assumption that poetry stands in opposition to science, we will try to notice affinities between these forms of human attention.
Full description:	We will undertake a close and contextual reading of several poetic texts more or less directly alluding to exact sciences, focusing on 21st century poetry, which articulates the tensions of what Lynn Keller describes as „self conscious Anthropocene” (a moment when arts and humanities cannot avoid reflecting on intertwined planetary crises caused by extractive economies). We will reflect on how contemporary poetry, as experimental art, reacts to the transformation of our environment happening at unprecedented pace as a consequence of anthropogenic destabilisation of the life-supporting systems of the earth (climate change, loss of biodiversity, plastic pollution, shrinking of habitats) and to technological progress (social media, artificial intelligence). During the semester we will read and analyse the writings of poets who are interested in various scientific disciplines (geology, botany, molecular biology, astrophysics, medicine, ecology), work as researchers or use scientific knowledge or procedures in their creative practices. In the spirit of environmental humanities and going against the popular assumption that poetry stands in opposition to science, we will try to notice affinities between these forms of human attention without ignoring the differences. We will treat poetry as an area of investigation, a form of research into the questions of our human relationship with other inhabitants of the earth, or the role of technology in shaping that relationship. Can the tools offered by poetry be useful to science (e.g. to communicate its findings to the public)? The course is organised in collaboration with the Ecopoetological Laboratory (Environmental Humanities Center) and will involve guest workshops (led by by poets and scientists). The reading list will include: Walt Whitman Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Forrest Gander, Brenda Hillman, Adam Dickinson, Evelyn Reilly, Alison Cobb, Tracy K. Smith, Natalie Diaz, as well as theoretical writings by Kate Rigby, Wendy Wheeler i Anny Tsing. Nature poetry and ecological poetry The poetry of Walt Whitman Modernism and the interest in technology Darwinian evolution and poetry biosemiotics and new materialisms trends in 21st century American poetry "Anthropocene" and "Self-conscious Anthropocene" the notion of "planetary" perspective poetics and ecopoetics poetic experiment, the avant-garde poetry as a way of knowing the world poetry as a form of activism in the age of climate catastrophe
Bibliography:	Individual poems from the following collections: Cobb, Alison. Plastic: An Autobiography. New York: Nightboat Books, 2018. Dickinson, Adam. Anatomic. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2018. Diaz Natalie. Postcolonial Love Poem. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2020. Gander, Forrest. Be With. New York: New Directions, 2018. Gander, Forrest, Twice Alive. New York: New Directions, 2023. Hillman, Brenda. Cascadia. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. Reilly, Evelyn. Styrofoam. New York: Roof Books, 2009. Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (wiele wydań) Secondary reading (fragments): Gander, Forrest. „Nymph Stick Insect”, A Faithful Existence, Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2001. Hume, Angela; and Gillian Osborne, Ecopoetics: Essays in the Field, University of Iowa Press, 2018. Iovino, Serenella; and Serpil Opperman, Material Ecocriticism, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2014. Keller, Lynn. Recomposing Ecopoetics: North American Poetry of the Self-Conscious Anthropocene. University of Virginia Press, 2017. Rigby, Kate. „Ecopoetics,” Keywords for Environmental Studies, Edited by Joni Adamson, William A. Gleason, and David N. Pellow. New York University Press, 2016. Tsing, Anna. The Mushroom at the End of the World. On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist ruins. Princeton University Press, 2001. Wheeler, Wendy. The Whole Creature. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2015.
Notes:	The 2023/24 edition of the course will host a visit by Forrest Gander (poet, Pulitzer-prize winner) and Anne Pringle (mycologist)

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