It occurs to me, after this week’s reading, that I knew nothing about what the environmental humanities were. I am thinking that the environmental humanities seem like a response to some of the important points of our reading of Cronon last week. Reading “The Emergence of Environmental Humanities” further solidifies some of our discussion point from last week. Western views of our relationship with nature are deeply narrow and do not allow for the communication and open mindedness required to provide solutions to our ecological problems. It’s no coincidence that the study of environmental humanities grew through the contributions of different fields of study like gender and indigenous studies both being intersectional studies that try to de-centralize the western narratives. On discussing what topics are covered by the study of humanities the text says, “a new range of concepts emerged that provide a framework for environmental humanities, such as ecoracism, environmental justice, ‘naturecultures,’ the environmentalism of the poor and the posthuman.” It never occurred to me how important these topics are when considering environmentalism and that new technology is not always the only answer or even the answer to our environmental crisis. I like how the text mentions that science does not always consider the knowledge that is readily available to us. I remember discussing early in the semester how indigenous peoples have so much knowledge of the land that has been dismissed by science as nothing but folklore without actually considering what knowledge they have to offer. It is how we learn that controlled fires in a forest are necessary to bring about new life.

 I have recently read Greg Grandin’s book “The end of the Myth” and in it he re-contextualizes the conditions that led to the dustbowl famine during the great depression. A big part of the reason for the famine was the destroying of land by unsustainable farming practices used for the production of cotton. The book explores the idea that plantation owners were not interested in sustainability of farming because the myth of the frontier gave them a false sense of confidence that when the land was spent they could just extend further west. Pairing this book with the topics being discussed in this class helps reinforce why environmental humanities are necessary.