The Paper 2 assignment aligns with course goals 1 and 2: Identify significant environmental and social issues addressed in *human cultural production and
interpret human cultural production within the contexts of contemporary environmental and social issues.
In the second half of the semester, concepts of environment and sustainability through the lens of the humanities and *human cultural production – the idea
that humans make meaning of the world around them through what we create, share, and see around us — has been studied.
For Paper 2, you will select a work of human cultural production to analyze. This can be anything from the humanities, such as literature, short story, essay,
film, television, art, dance, language, religion, philosophy, and so on but with a twist. The work you choose must be selected through the lens of the
environment. Environmental art is a range of artistic practices encompassing both historical approaches to nature in art and more recent ecological and
politically motivated types of works. Environmental art has evolved away from formal concerns, worked out with earth as a sculptural material, towards a
deeper relationship to systems, processes and phenomena in relationship to social concerns. Integrated social and ecological approaches developed as an
ethical, restorative stance emerged in the 1990s. Over the past 30 years, environmental art has become a focal point of exhibitions around the world as the
social and cultural aspects of environmental issues come to the forefront.
In your analysis, you will identify the significant environmental, sustainability, or social issues and interpret the sustainability message that is being depicted.
This could be anything from a crust punk record or street art/graffiti to classical music and curated museum collections. If it falls under the broad banner of
the humanities, and has something to do with an environmental issue, it fits for this assignment.
Your paper should include:
Interpretation of a work from the humanities (human cultural production).
Descriiption:
of the piece itself, including information on when, where, and why it was created
of the intentions of the artist/writer/videographer etc. with the piece and a background on the artist and their larger body of work.
Note: As you describe the piece and the artist, assume your reader has only an informal knowledge of the subject and needs refreshing.
Analysis of the environmental or sustainability message in the work you selected, through the lens of an environmental or humanities perspective.
What specific environmental or sustainability social issue is depicted? Why is the issue significant?
How well or poorly does the piece convey the message
Make other connections to course material as appropriate.
In order to earn full points, you must:
include a full citation at the close of your paper for the work you are analyzing (consult with the FGCU writing center if you are not clear how to do this for
your object
make a direct connection to a class lesson.
3-4 pages typed, double-spaced — not including the citation page
Your paper must conform to APA or MLA style for page layout, citations, and writing quality standards.