A Spiritual History of the Living World

Books used:
1. Hogan, Linda – Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World
2. Turner, Jack – The Abstract Wild
3. Wessels, Tom – The Myth of Progress: Toward a Sustainable Future

Instructions:
One of the recurring themes throughout the semester has been the concept of “nestedness.” We encountered it, initially, in Wessels, in connection with the systemic functions of Nature. We have examined it, from a philosophical point of view, in Turner. And one could even say that Linda Hogan’s Dwellings is story upon story, lesson after lesson, of the importance of this concept—in both its positive and negative manifestations, especially in terms of our species’ yearning for connection to the wild even as we brutalize it—and the systemic repercussions that result.

If “nestedness” is a property of “complex systems,” in which components of those systems are separated by “fuzzy boundaries” (Wessels 12), write an essay in which you discuss the “nested” properties that emerge from the systemic interplay of one of the following themes from Dwellings, related to both dysfunction and healing in the relationship between humans and the nonhuman world.

1) language (for example: how we narrate our relationship to the natural world and to the “other” (the nonhuman, the colonized human); which languages we repudiate; which languages we don’t even hear–or acknowledge even when we do hear)
2) knowledge (for example: what kind of knowledge contributes to the disconnect between human and nonhuman? What kind of knowledge do we dismiss, and what kind of ignorance do we perpetuate in that dismissal? What is lost? What is at stake?)
There are many ways you could structure this essay. What I want to see, in sum, is a sustained engagement with the systemic problem, as articulated by Hogan, through the lens of Wessels. How you accomplish this is ultimately a creative decision that you will make. There is no page limit, but your response should be thoughtful and reflect the complexity of the issues addressed, as far as you are able to do so in the allotted time.

You may use both texts in formulating your response. Be sure to quote from the texts, as well, in providing support for your assertions.

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