Forest Worlds: Mapping the Arboreal Imaginary in Literature and Film

Can the humanities help us think differently about the forest? What happens if we imagine forests as the agents of their own stories? At a time when humans seem unable to curb the destructive practices that place themselves, biodiversity, and forests at risk, literature and film, myth and fairy tale, give us access to a history of the complex inter-relationship between forests and humanity. This course sets a wide range of forest-related literature and film from around the world in conversation with environmental history and current environmental issues.