Rhetoric of Climate Change – 38787/38788 – ENGL 244 – 02/03
Professor: Karen Shaup
Climate change is not only a scientific and policy issue, but it is also a cultural issue. How we frame climate change through words, images, and sounds reveals cultural and social values and influences our imagined and possible futures. In this course, we examine representations of climate change in various media to uncover, analyze, and reflect on the cultural meanings and resonance of climate, environment, and nature in social, historical, and political contexts and networks. What stories are being told about climate, and why? Who is telling these stories and for what audiences? What do these stories leave out? What other stories can we tell about climate and to what effects? This class uses the tools of rhetoric not only to critically evaluate climate change discourse, but students will also employ the tools of rhetoric to make interventions in local and national contexts.
