Environmental Studies 230: The Cultural and Literary Life of Rivers

Sources of life-giving water, protectors of borders, images of change and oneness, rivers hold deep symbolic and cultural significance.  In this course, we will explore the life of the river in the mythological, religious and literary traditions of several ancient and modern cultures. Using comparative approaches, we will examine the meaning and value major rivers hold for the people that live around them and their role in shaping cultural identity and religious practice.  We will also read several major literary works that make rivers a central aspect of their narrative and will consider how the author writes about the river and its landscape in order to explore wider issues of the human experience.