Events/Courses - Event View

One of the most important issues facing us today is our relationship to the natural world. There are many non-fiction books on the subject, and unending news articles, but very few books in the realm of fiction. We will read three novels on the nature/human connection: my two short novels, The Last Resort and Coming Home, and one by acclaimed short story writer, essayist, and novelist Joy Williams, Concerning the Future of Souls. Because of the length of the course, we cannot read longer works by novelists like Richard Powers and Barbara Kingsolver, but we will talk about their books. I will also discuss other novels in which nature plays an important role — one thinks of Moby Dick, for instance. Novels about our connection to nature do not necessarily deal with environmental issues such as climate change. They address the need to understand our role in the web of life.

Instructor Kay Liss is the author of two novels whose major themes involve our connection to the natural world. She has taught two previous classes for CSC: one on Nature Poetry with Geoff Robinson; and one on the Transcendentalists and Education Reform with Jayne Gordon. She has a B.A. in English from Bard College, took graduate classes in Literature at the New School, and completed a year-long certificate program in Environmental Studies from Southampton College of Long Island University. She served on the CSC Board for many years and has been a past president. For more information about the instructor, her books, and other writing, go to http://www.kaytoblerliss.com/.