I would define environmental humanities as a broad and diverse area of study that focuses on environmental concerns using various lenses, going beyond strictly scientific, economic, or political analysis. I think studying environmental humanities is important because how we think about the current environmental crises and what we are able to imagine in terms of a better future have an impact on what we do and how we do it.

I had some interest in taking environmental humanities from the start because I care about environmental issues, although I did often feel like I wasn't good enough at learning scientific subjects to understand things deeply. I took Intro Postcolonial Studies with Professor Sen my sophomore year and that class introduced me to literary ecocriticsm. I really enjoyed writing about literature while focusing on environmental themes and landscapes in texts, which prompted me to take the rest of the classes in the specialization.

I have really enjoyed all of my classes within the environmental humanities specialization and incorporating what I learn in those classes into my other classwork. My classes have let me to believe that writing and storytelling can play an important role in addressing the climate crisis and environmental degradation. I had originally thought I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, but now I hope to have a job where I can use my writing, reading, and critical thinking skills to do something related to the environment or for environmental causes. My English classes have helped me feel more confident in my writing skills and my ability to pursue that kind of career and/or to pursue a masters at some point.

In Intro to Irish Literature with Dr. O'Callaghan we read the novel Solar Bones by Mike McCormack. The novel is set in 2009 and is told from the perspective of an Irish man who is dead but hasn't realized it yet and is recounting moments from his life. One of the central images of the book, which connects to the title, is a pile of disassembled wind turbines that the man sees go through his town in a truck. The way the wind turbines are abandoned because of the impacts of the financial crisis and the character's view of the parts as like a dead thing stuck with me. To me this means that even if people start efforts or projects to decarbonize or mitigate climate change, their lasting impact depends on the stability of the underlying structures. The government and economic structures within which environmental efforts happen often constrain the impact or longevity of such efforts and the scope of what they can try to do.

I think that there are many opportunities that are worthwhile to get involved in, although I feel like they aren't always advertised or promoted a lot. I also think there could be more, although I appreciate that UMass has a Sunrise movement chapter. I haven't been involved in any environmental advocacy or activism during my time at UMass. I am kind of cynical about organizations like Sunrise that claim to care about environmental justice and the unequal impacts of environmental issues and the climate crisis, yet do not mention or act on the need for Covid precautions. Disabled and sick people are one of the groups that are more heavily impacted by the effects of climate change and by natural disasters. Considering Disability Justice, a framework advanced by queer disabled people of color, is important in movements for climate action. Caring about and mitigating the spread of Covid in environmental organizing affirms that the pathogens we are exposed to are connected to environmental issues and that sick and disabled people belong in these movements. 

I am currently doing an internship with the School of Earth and Sustainability (SES) this year in which I do climate science communication work to support SES in developing climate literacy training. For that I reviewed Massachusetts decarbonization plan, which is extensive but does advance the idea that the climate crisis can be addressed using market solutions and without altering the underlying systems of capitalism and settler colonialism. Government agencies like the one that wrote that plan have a great deal of control over what is even considered as a possibility in terms of decarbonizing and climate action, and they often perpetuate the idea that scientific, technical, and economic solutions are the only viable courses of action.