Curriculum
The Time for an Ecological Humanities is Now By Jared Rock HS Literature Teacher
E
cology comes from the Greek oikos, “home” or “dwelling place” (Oxford English, n.d.). The dire state of our oikos urgently calls us to address its ailments. Yet, to consider this a home repair in any normal sense is misleading. In normal home repair situations, the inhabitant depends upon the shelter but is, properly speaking, independent of that structure and master of it. Herein lies an issue recognized by many thinkers, perhaps most clearly outlined by William Cronon (1996), that an incessant dichotomy has been reinforced in our collective thinking about the natural ecosystem and our human social systems. Even our alarm over damage to our planetary systems is usually expressed and understood as concern for the continued health and survival of human societies, economies, and affairs, emphasizing the extent to which ecological disruption will be disastrous to these. Here is where our natural oikos differs from the standard house conceit. We are not ecological inhabitants merely, but integral parts of its structure (or, more precisely, system). Every time we breathe, we both partake of our home’s protective atmosphere and actively alter it, even more so when we fly planes or make consumer choices in modern markets.
36
EARCOS Triannual Journal