Human/Nature: An Exploration of Place, Story, and Climate Futurism
FAIN: ES-288160-22
California State University (Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609)
Fawn Canady (Project Director: February 2022 to present)
Troy Hicks (Co Project Director: February 2022 to present)
A three-week Level II institute for 25 middle and high school English teachers to study climate futurism.
SSU proposes a new combined format, 3-week summer institute with in-person and virtual convenings for 25 English teachers of grades 6-12. The institute will be held virtually & in-person on SSU’s campus & through field trips to various locations in northern California. The institute will guide participants in an in-depth inquiry into climate futurism alongside literary scholars, teacher-artists, naturalists, & media literacy scholars. Climate futurism is defined here as storytelling that uses climate science as a catalyst to imagine possible climate futures. Storytelling is essential to the humanities, but it also bridges other disciplines like the sciences & helps people imagine alternative outcomes to complex problems. The institute starts with Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower & young adult literature in the genre of “cli-fi,” or climate science fiction, to frame field experiences & leads to the development of curricular “Action Plans” for teachers’ use in their own classrooms.
Associated Products
Human/Nature: Exploring Climate Change Fiction through Interdisciplinary, Experiential, and Field-Based Education (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Human/Nature: Exploring Climate Change Fiction through Interdisciplinary, Experiential, and Field-Based Education
Author: Fawn Canady
Author: Troy Hicks
Abstract: Exploring climate futurism through an interdisciplinary study of climate fiction, media literacy, and field-based science, this participatory session demonstrates our approach from an NEH-sponsored summer institute for K-12 teachers. Presenters will invite participants into a dramatic, experiential reading of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and share additional teaching strategies.
Date: 11/18/2023
Primary URL:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1V6a6zY46FufxW7EnPqiz8TM6UgkRUKWsZhmU35FroLA/edit?usp=sharingPrimary URL Description: Google Slides Presentation
Conference Name: National Council of Teaching of English (NCTE) Annual Convention
Climate Futurism: Connecting English Language Arts and the Climate Crisis (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Climate Futurism: Connecting English Language Arts and the Climate Crisis
Author: Fawn Canady
Abstract: Climate change is impacting our world and will profoundly shape our students’ future. What is the connection between English language arts and the climate crisis? Can the literary imagination help us understand the emergency and questions of justice? Can student inquiry, critical thinking, and public writing and action help protect their future? (Roundtable Presentation)
Date: 11/17/2023
Primary URL:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MlLkRGAKgfKd5V8nO3uSdx0hC3GiOR6EngG_KWWInmc/edit?usp=sharingPrimary URL Description: Google Slides Presentation
Conference Name: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention
Human/Nature: A Summer Institute for 6-12 English Teachers Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Human/Nature: A Summer Institute for 6-12 English Teachers Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities
Author: Fawn Canady
Author: Troy Hicks
Author: Erick Gordon
Abstract: “Human/Nature: An Exploration of Place, Stories, and Climate Futurism” is a combined format 3-week summer institute sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. With in-person and virtual convenings for 25 English teachers of grades 6-12, the institute will be held virtually from April 10 to June 10, 2023, in-person from June 12-23, 2023, on SSU’s campus as well as through field trips to various locations in northern California, and again virtually from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.
Date Range: June 12-23, 2023
Location: Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California
Primary URL:
https://climatefuturisms.com/Primary URL Description: Institute Homepage
ED34B-07 Grounded in Knowledge, Guided by Stories: Imagining Our Way Out of Dystopic Climate Futures (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: ED34B-07 Grounded in Knowledge, Guided by Stories: Imagining Our Way Out of Dystopic Climate Futures
Author: Fawn Canady
Abstract: “It’s hard not to be shell-shocked by pervasive, catastrophic news about the environment. You would be forgiven if you mistook the world for a dystopian science fiction film.” –Antonio López
What is the role of storytelling in teaching about climate change? English Language Arts classrooms are uniquely positioned to invite explorations of scientific knowledge in the service of mitigation and adaptation through the creative contributions of the arts. This session explores using dystopian cli-fi in secondary ELA classrooms as a powerful tool for leveraging the sciences to imagine possible climate futures through reading and multimodal writing.
Climate fiction, or cli-fi, is often grounded in evidence-based knowledge and contemporary social issues that make visible the complex intersections of the global climate crisis. Dystopian literature, such as The Parable of the Sower, The Marrow Thieves, and Feed creates opportunities for students to explore intersecting issues connected to climate change such as adaptation and resilience, as well as themes such as the false human/nature dichotomy, the role of historical trauma, scientific and traditional ecological knowledge, and rapidly changing technologies. As a systems thinking approach becomes even more important, imaginative literature guides students in thinking through connections, consequences, examining choices, and imagining alternative outcomes. To quote Solnit, “It’s not too late!” Language arts teachers can guide students in exploring how science can offer different pathways.
The author will share pedagogical approaches and a draft of a place-based framework from a summer institute for teachers funded by National Endowment for the Humanities in climate futurism that inspired embodied engagement around dystopian literature to give students both agency and hope. Other stakeholders, such as scientists, journalists, and more can learn how to use stories and storymaking–fiction and nonfiction– to inspire action
Date: 12/13/2023
Primary URL:
https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm23/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1431192Primary URL Description: Conference Program
Secondary URL:
https://www.agu.org/fall-meetingSecondary URL Description: American Geophysical Union '23 Website
Conference Name: AGU 23: American Geophysical Union
RETELLING ‘UNTOLD’ STORIES (FROM NATIVE RATHER THAN SETTLER PERSPECTIVES) (Article)Title: RETELLING ‘UNTOLD’ STORIES (FROM NATIVE RATHER THAN SETTLER PERSPECTIVES)
Author: Theresa Burruel Stone
Author: Trelasa Baratta
Abstract: Assistant Professor of English Theresa Burruel Stone (right) and Trelasa Baratta, Redbud Resource Group Education Specialist and recent SSU Masters in Education graduate (left), have published "Retelling 'Untold' Stories (From Native Rather than Settler Perspectives)" in California English Journal. In this short article written for teacher/practitioner audiences, they "argue that in the teaching of Native experiences through storytelling, we must challenge romanticized settler colonial narratives, and relearn how to teach accurate Native histories, presents, and futures." The article introduces a curriculum-making tool and resources to facilitate doing so.
Year: 2023
Primary URL:
https://www.cateweb.org/journals/september-2023/Primary URL Description: CATE Link to the September 2023 Special Issue, Untold Stories: Indigenous Representation
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: California English Journal
Publisher: California English Journal