Representing Environmental Refugees in Film and Literature

One socio-ecological phenomenon that characterizes our times is an ever increasing displacement of people due to environmental causes. Migration processes induced by environmental factors (such as desertification and water scarcity, environmental destruction through natural catastrophes, sea level rise, and the like) are covered and addressed in a variety of media. In this seminar, we will look at the figure of the environmental refugee and explore its representation in different media. We will read non-fiction as well as fiction texts; discuss representational strategies in documentary film and fiction film; and take a look at poetry performance as a form of political activism. In our engagement with the figure of the environmental refugee, we will also address its discursive embeddedness and critically assess who uses the figure of the environmental refugee, in which way, and to what political ends.

All seminar attendees are expected to actively participate in the seminar. This includes regular attendance; the preparation of the assigned reading/viewing materials before each session, which we will then work on and discuss as a group; and the submission of two response papers (500-700 words each) during the semester. Participants conclude the seminar with an individual paper, which is either an extended reflection on their presentation topic (approx. 3.000 words) or a seminar paper (4.000-6.000 words). Participants are encouraged to purchase the following texts as a hard copy. Ideally, buy the exact edition given here, as this will make it easier to talk about the texts:

• Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Water Knife. Vintage, 2015. ISBN: 978-0-8041-7153-3
• Habila, Helon. Oil on Water. Penguin, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-141-04684-6

• Language: English
• ECTS: 6 ECTS Points
• Timeframe: 2 hours per week
• Dates: Mondays, 2 pm - 4 pm
• Online via Zoom and Moodle
• Work format: Seminar
• Registration online: 12.10.2020 until 26.10.2020
• Belegnummer: 14800