Program Overview

Course Overview

The course ENGL 227, Reading and Writing the Climate Crisis, explores how literary texts represent and respond to the climate crisis. It aims to develop students' imaginative, affective, and interpersonal capacities for inhabiting the present and future of the planet.

Course Details

• Dates: 7 July 2025 to 9 November 2025
• Starts: Trimester 2
• Fees:
  • NZ$1,090.60 for domestic students
  • NZ$5,560.00 for international students
• Lecture Start Times: Tuesday, 11.00am
• Campus: Kelburn
• Estimated Workload: Approximately 200 hours or 11.1 hours per week for 18 weeks
• Points: 20 points

Entry Restrictions

• Prerequisites: (20 100-level ENGL or EHUM pts and 20 further pts from Part A of the BA Schedule) or GLBL 101
• Corequisites: None
• Restrictions: ENGL 336, ENGL

Taught By

The course is taught by the School of Arts and Media — Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Disclaimer

This course outline may be subject to change.

Key Dates

Important dates, including mid-trimester teaching breaks, can be found on the University's key dates calendar. Assessment dates will be announced once the course has begun.

Course Learning Objectives

Students who pass this course should be able to:

1. Interpret how literary texts represent the significance of climate change for individuals, cultures, and species
2. Discuss and debate the role of literature in responding to climate change through course concepts, current events, and personal experience
3. Analyse the set texts and develop interpretive arguments
4. Compare and contrast formal and thematic features of the set texts

How This Course Is Taught

• Lectures are in-person and include class discussion, collaborative activities, and the opportunity to ask questions. Lecture recordings are provided as an additional study aid.
• Seminar/Workshop sessions are in-person only, with no online alternative. Attendance at at least 9 workshops is a mandatory course requirement.

Assessment

• Weekly Reading Response: 15%
• Critical or Creative Essay: 30%
• Final Critical Essay: 40%
• Workshop Reflection: 15%

Mandatory Requirements

To pass this course, students must:

1. Attend at least 9 workshops
2. Achieve an overall pass mark of at least 50%

Lecture Times and Rooms

Lecture times are from 7 July 2025 to 9 November 2025, on Tuesdays at 11.00am.

What You'll Need to Get

Additional short readings will be made available via Nuku through Talis. Required texts include:

• A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
• Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
• Emergency by Daisy Hildyard
• Orbital by Samantha Harvey
• How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

Course Coordinator

Dr. Adam Grener is the course coordinator.