Environmental Lit Workshop: Environmentalist Literature and Action Some would say we live in supremely disturbing times. A pandemic; the sixth extinction; fascism within democracies and militant nationalisms; climate apartheid, and a political economy based around the commodification and exploitation of people and the earth. In this course careful reading and analysis is paired with literary conversation and action. Course readings represent a wide array of environmental justice in differing genres. While we respond to assigned texts, we will simultaneously write our way toward an environmental literature of our own design.

Nonfiction across Genres In this seminar on contemporary nonfiction across genres, we will focus on notions of truth and how it is told in various subgenres. We will read, watch, and closely analyze archives, blogs, vlogs, journalism, narrative nonfiction, memoir, lyric nonfiction, haibun, graphic memoir, photo essays, film essays, podcasts, lists, and theory. We will ask why authors select the subgenres they do and investigate how artistic sense is made of worldly concerns. As there is a workshop component to this course, we will write, comment upon, and revise our own diverse works of nonfiction.

Contemporary African Environmental Works (Writing, Photography and Film) Concerned with social implications of environmental change, many contemporary African photographers, filmmakers, and authors are challenging the public with social documents that protest ecologically destructive forms of neocolonial development. These works actively complicate what it means to write about and look at those most affected by environmental injustices perpetrated by international and national actors. In this course we will read and view relevant works of African environmental literature and art. Whilst reading, we will ask ourselves the hard questions of what to do with our own complicity when facing the role that the global north plays in the causation of environmental degradation and human suffering./(REC)/

Advanced Non-Fiction Workshop: Reading and Writing Memory and Landscape The human animal is shaped by place and memory of place. How can a writer best create what Nabokov called "bright blocks of perception" and evoke the power of formative landscapes? We will move between memoir, narrative non-fiction, and autobiographical fiction, reading Virginia Woolf, Nabokov, Jesmyn Ward, and Mary Oliver. We will contemplate the way memory works with Oliver Sacks and Robin Kimmerer. Students will generate critical and creative work based on their own experiences and adventures, with room for interdisciplinary/multi-genre output. (One intro CRWR course, or by instructor approval)

Decolonizing Creative Writing How might creative writing facilitate collective resistance to racial capitalism and transform us into more caring persons? In this course we will learn from reading and writing in solidarity with anti-capitalist and anti-racist literatures. Expect to read and write creative critiques of imperialism, nationalism, genocide, white settler colonialism, heteropatriarchy, social inequality, ecocide, and other injustices, and interrogate and upend the canon. We will expose ourselves to radical literature (in English and in translation), multimedia materials, photographic images, digital platforms, the built environment, legal cases, and more. Authors such as Arundhati Roy, Eduardo Galeano, Wu Ming-Yi, Svetlana Alexievich, Michiko Ishimure, Nuruddin Farah, Fiston Mujila, Pauline Alexis Gumbs, and Therese Hak Kyung Cha will help us to rethink the purpose of literature. (CRWR 170, CRWR 173, or CRWR 175)

Writing: Poetry, Fiction, NonFiction An introduction to the writing of poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction through analysis of writings by modern and contemporary poets and prose writers and regular discussion of student writing. Different instructors may choose to emphasize one literary form or another in a given semester. Workshops will focus on composition and revision, with particular attention to the basics of form and craft. This course is a prerequisite to CRWR 0380, CRWR 0385, CRWR 0370, and CRWR 0375. (This course is not a college writing course.)

Literary and Filmic Protest of Environmental Racism Can Literature and Film Save the Planet?  This course focuses on literary and filmic responses to environmental racism. Bearing witness to those whose lives are most endangered, we will learn about environmental justice, economics, migration, globalization, and the anthropology of climate change through comparative study of works authored by Iraqi, Chinese, and African Americans, as well as by indigenous Latin Americans (Andean, Xavante, and Wayuu), Native Americans (Navajo and Sioux), Africans (Ogoni), Indians (Dalit and Adivasi), and Armenians. We will write literature and film reviews, and work incrementally toward the realization of activist essays.

African Environmental Writing, Photography, and Film Concerned with social implications of environmental change, a burgeoning number of contemporary African photographers, filmmakers, and authors are challenging the public with social documents that protest ecologically destructive forms of neocolonial development. These works actively resist oppression, abuse, and conflagration of both the black body and the environment. Subverting the neocolonialist rhetoric and gaze, these creative practitioners complicate what it means to write about and look at those most affected by environmental injustices perpetrated by international and national actors. In this course we will view relevant photographs and films and read African environmental literature as sources of artistic and activist inspiration. Whilst reading, we will ask ourselves the hard questions of what to do with our own complicity when facing the role that the global north plays in the causation of environmental degradation and human suffering. Students will be expected to reflect upon how best to regard the pain of others in the Anthropocene, as well as upon how culture influences creative depictions of the Anthropocene. Seminar papers will address questions that arise from analyzing particular works. This course counts as a Humanities cognate for environmental studies majors. (Diversity)

African Environmental Writing, Photography, and Film Concerned with social implications of environmental change, a burgeoning number of contemporary African photographers, filmmakers, and authors are challenging the public with social documents that protest ecologically destructive forms of neocolonial development. These works actively resist oppression, abuse, and conflagration of both the black body and the environment. Subverting the neocolonialist rhetoric and gaze, these creative practitioners complicate what it means to write about and look at those most affected by environmental injustices perpetrated by international and national actors. In this course we will view relevant photographs and films and read African environmental literature as sources of artistic and activist inspiration. Whilst reading, we will ask ourselves the hard questions of what to do with our own complicity when facing the role that the global north plays in the causation of environmental degradation and human suffering. Students will be expected to reflect upon how best to regard the pain of others in the Anthropocene, as well as upon how culture influences creative depictions of the Anthropocene. Seminar papers will address questions that arise from analyzing particular works. This course counts as a Humanities cognate for environmental studies majors.

Spring Ulmer

Reviews and ratings for Spring Ulmer at Middlebury College.Spring Ulmer teaches Environmental Lit Workshop, Nonfiction across Genres, African Environmental Works and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Spring Ulmer good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

This course was a ton of fun, got me out of my comfort zone in a low-stakes environment. It was very creative which was a nice break from my typical schedule, and I really enjoyed how most of it was small group work so I really got to know my classmates. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this course, largely because of Professor Spring’s easygoing and accommodating teaching style. She created a classroom environment that encouraged creativity and independent thinking, offering students the freedom to explore ideas with minimal constraints. Professor Spring fostered open dialogue and meaningful discussion, and the structured opportunities for peer feedback allowed us to hear diverse perspectives and strengthen our work. Her approach made the course both engaging and intellectually rewarding.

Spring is the most accommodating and enthusiastic professor I've ever had. She has a great way of getting students engaged in the content, and is good at encouraging discussion (which most of the class consists of). She gives direct feedback to students, which is personalized and always very kind.