Mentor/s
Dr. Cara E. Kilgallen
Participation Type
Paper Talk
Abstract
The term “ecoracism” has recently entered the fields of environmental activism, ecocriticism, and Critical Race Theory, though not much research on ecoracism has yet been done in the latter two fields. Antiracism, another modern concept, refers to the acknowledgment of racism and the promotion of racial equality. This paper explores how ecoracism and antiracism are important within the environmental justice movement, just as they are significant in literature. But how can looking at nature literature through an ecoracist and antiracist lens help future studies of these subjects, as well as future environmental and literary scholars? Scholars, like activists, have a responsibility to accurately research and present their areas of expertise in the hopes of improving a certain field. As an English major and environmental activist, I feel the weight of this responsibility and am determined to answer this question through interviews, research, and analyses of poems and stories from both Black and white nature writers. Using both historical and modern examples, this paper will delve into what it means to be antiracist in the environmental justice movement and how ecoracist and antiracist studies of literature can help us become better advocates for environmental justice.
College and Major available
College of Arts and Sciences, English
Location
Session 5: Digital Commons & Martire Room 350
Start Day/Time
4-26-2023 3:30 PM
End Day/Time
4-26-2023 4:45 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Prize Categories
Best Multidisciplinary Research or Collaboration, Most Scholarly Impact or Potential, Best Writing
Ecoracism and Antiracism in the Environmental Justice Movement and Their Place in Literature
Session 5: Digital Commons & Martire Room 350
The term “ecoracism” has recently entered the fields of environmental activism, ecocriticism, and Critical Race Theory, though not much research on ecoracism has yet been done in the latter two fields. Antiracism, another modern concept, refers to the acknowledgment of racism and the promotion of racial equality. This paper explores how ecoracism and antiracism are important within the environmental justice movement, just as they are significant in literature. But how can looking at nature literature through an ecoracist and antiracist lens help future studies of these subjects, as well as future environmental and literary scholars? Scholars, like activists, have a responsibility to accurately research and present their areas of expertise in the hopes of improving a certain field. As an English major and environmental activist, I feel the weight of this responsibility and am determined to answer this question through interviews, research, and analyses of poems and stories from both Black and white nature writers. Using both historical and modern examples, this paper will delve into what it means to be antiracist in the environmental justice movement and how ecoracist and antiracist studies of literature can help us become better advocates for environmental justice.
Students' Information
Jill Amari graduated Summa Cum Laude from Sacred Heart University in December 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Writing minor.
1st Prize Writing Across the Curriculum 2023 Award