GSA 2019 Seminar Report

• Sustainability and German Studies:From Ecocriticism to Community Engagement
• Kiley Kost, Dan Nolan, and Seth Peabody

Growing interest in the intersection of German studies and environmental sustainability has recently generated a significant number of publications¹ and curriculum development projects.² These new curricular and cocurricular projects build on previous work on German environmental(ist) culture by including relationship-building with sustainability stakeholders on campus and in surrounding communities. Additionally, work in the environmental humanities continues to provide motivation for expanding the reach of course activities, both by engaging with broader communities and by developing service-learning projects as part of a well-articulated larger push to implement high-impact practices.³ Yet connecting cultural analysis to engagement with sustainability-focused local organizations can prove challenging in unexpected ways,⁴ and for many scholars and educators in German studies, past teaching experience and pedagogy training may not provide sufficient preparation for building partnerships outside the classroom.⁵

For a 2019 GSA seminar entitled "Sustainability and German Studies: From Ecocriticism to Community Engagement," Seth Peabody (St. Olaf College) and Dan Nolan (University of Minnesota Duluth) gathered a group of scholar-educators for three days to explore new possibilities for bridging ecocritical analysis, engaged scholarship, community partnership development, and interdisciplinary intercultural learning in German studies. The seminar was sponsored by AATG and the GSA's Environmental Studies Network. Shortly after the seminar, the DAAD-sponsored Center for German and European Studies and the Environmental Humanities Initiative at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities hosted a follow-up symposium organized by Charlotte Melin (University of Minnesota), Kiley Kost (Carleton College), Nolan, and Peabody. In what follows, we trace the motivation and organization of the seminar and symposium, share key insights from participants, and discuss forthcoming related initiatives.

Nolan and Peabody's motivation to organize the seminar grew out of practical concerns about designing and teaching courses that combine work on the theoretical foundations of environmental thinking, aesthetic and literary representations of nature, and civic engagement efforts. Linking these fields has long been a goal of ecocriticism: since the field gained traction decades ago, ecocritics have challenged the perceived scope and reach of literary reflection to include substantive questions concerning the environment, agency, and the entanglement of narrative, ethics, and culture.⁶ In trying to relate these concerns to practical responses, however, several questions arose regarding source materials for course development, the feasibility of engaging with community organizations at a local and international level, and how to combine aesthetic inquiry and community action. In proposing the GSA seminar, Nolan and Peabody trained their focus on the gap between interest in ecocritical study and environmentally focused German studies on the one hand, and the high-impact (and high-demand) practice of academic civic engagement on the other.

Meaningful and effective partnership development with community organizations requires an understanding of the cultural and historical factors that shape a group's environmental practices, thoughtful reflection on concepts of community, and advanced communication skills.⁷ This work is challenging, but the field of German studies is well suited to help students build the intercultural communication skills required to address environmental issues directly through community-based projects. Engaged pedagogy empowers students to use their intercultural awareness to critically reflect on the history and cultural conditions of success and failure in sustainable development, both in their local communities and in German-speaking countries.

In preparation for seminar meetings in Portland, Nolan and Peabody attempted to foster a sense of community among participants by drawing on practices used in international collaboration and civic engagement. In online video discussions, participants in the seminar reflected that contemporary environmental challenges ranging from climate change and biodiversity loss to social justice issues have accelerated the interdisciplinary turn toward the environmental humanities. Some viewed that turn as well motivated, while others questioned the need for yet another interdisciplinary intervention in our field. In all cases, seminar participants provided detailed accounts of how their students' interests in sustainability offered opportunities for pursuing innovative and creative approaches to curriculum design. These initial frames of reference, as well as video responses...