![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110207\/\/FESREADs3b(1).jpg\")
Soper-Jones, a postdoctoral fellow in environmental literature, sustainability\u00a0& culture.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a rare day that in an academic institution a facilitator hands you a maraca and encourages you to cheer for your professors,\u201d says\u00a0Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) master's student Penny Beames.<\/p>\n
The maraca, noisy cheering and a lively discussion about great literature and its connection to the environment were all part of\u00a0Beames\u2019 experience in the Faculty's first\u00a0FES Reads! event, part of\u00a0an introductory master of environmental studies course (ENVS 5100) directed by\u00a0environmental studies\u00a0Professor Ravi de Costa.<\/p>\n
Modelled on the popular CBC program \"Canada Reads\", FES Reads! encourages community members to explore the key role literature plays in environmental understanding and politics. It is\u00a0coordinated by the FES Sustainable Writing Lab directed by Canada Research Chair in Sustainability & Culture Catriona Sandilands, FES doctoral candidate Amanda Di Battista, and\u00a0Ella Soper-Jones, a postdoctoral fellow in environmental literature, sustainability\u00a0& culture.<\/p>\n
Left: FES Dean Barbara Rahder reads from The Winter Vault <\/em>by Anne Michaels as Professor Illan Kapoor and Professor Ravi de Costa look on<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFrom the Romantic poets, to animal welfare classics like Black Beauty, <\/em>to contemporary environmentalist fictions by the likes of Don DeLillo, Margaret Atwood and Ian McEwan \u2013 the history of the environmental movement can be traced through literature,\u201d says Sandilands.<\/p>\n Literature is a catalyst that can unleash the impact and complexity of environmental issues, she explains. However, in order to lead to real understanding, those issues need to be discussed \u2013 whereas literature is often now enjoyed in relative isolation.<\/p>\n FES Reads! is intended to break down that isolation and create a shared literary experience for FES community members. \u201cThe goal is to create an environmental public sphere around a literary work by choosing one book that will be read by all FES community members,\u201d says Sandilands. \u201cOnce everyone has read the book, they have a relationship with it \u2013 and can engage in discussions about Part one of FES Reads!, held\u00a0last fall, used a participatory approach to choose the book for this shared experience. The event took the form of a competition between four\u00a0York environmental studies professors, each championing a work of fiction they thought best engaged with issues related to environmental studies. Professor Ilan Kapoor presented\u00a0his case for\u00a0The God of Small Things<\/em> by Arundhati Roy; Professor Justin Podur advocated for Freedom TM<\/em> by Daniel Suarez;\u00a0FES Dean Barbara Rahder for The Winter Vault<\/em> by Anne Michaels; and de Costa argued for Three Day Road<\/em> by Joseph Boyden.<\/p>\n The professors used analysis and theatrics to sway the crowd, which was encouraged to vote with noise \u2013 thus the maracas. \u201cEach defended their book with passion and wit,\u201d says Beames. \u201cIt was really energizing to see some of my role models insisting on what they cared about.\u201d<\/p>\n After a last round of debate was waged between finalists de Costa and Rahder, the book chosen for FES to discuss in the next FES Reads! event was Three Day Road. <\/em>On Thursday, Feb. 10<\/strong>, from 12:30 to 2pm, in 140 Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies Building, the community will\u00a0meet again to\u00a0talk about Boyden's award-winning\u00a0book. The discussion will be facilitated by de Costa, Sandilands and Soper-Jones, and they hope\u00a0the discussion will demonstrate how the shared experience of the book can create political community and environmental understanding.<\/p>\n Everyone in the York community is encouraged to come to Thursday's\u00a0FES Reads! session to share their opinions of the novel and how its insights might be relevant to work done in the Faculty.\u00a0Given the novel\u2019s subject of the fictional experiences of two Oji-Cree snipers in\u00a0the First World War,\u00a0as well as those of the\u00a0aunt that raised them, participants are particularly encouraged to reflect on issues of colonialism, violence, gender, wilderness, and war as they continue to be relevant in the early 21st century.<\/p>\n For more events dealing with literature and environmental studies, look for the Sustainable Writing Lab workshops that are held throughout the year\u00a0in the Faculty of Environmental Studies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Modelled on the popular CBC program \"Canada Reads\", FES Reads! promotes the key role literature plays in understanding the environment...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[82],"yfileauthor":[],"qualifier":[],"yfile-author":[],"tags-to-show":[161],"workflow":[],"class_list":["post-16389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-euc","tags-to-show-faculty-of-environmental-urban-change"],"acf":{"internal_publish_date":null,"original_image":null},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110207\/\/bookcover_boyden.jpg\")
the issues it raises.\"<\/p>\n