Editorial.

Teaching Environmental Literature The world at the beginning of the 21st century is in the throes of working out a new relationship with nature. For over a century, some of the finest literature has been on the place of humans in the natural world. The environmental predicament in which we find ourselves has made the examination of humanity's relationship with nature an important area of study, crossing disciplines. This issue is devoted to discussions of pedagogical strategies for teaching environmental literature and discussions of the environment as a tool for teaching any period or genre of literature.

The study of environmental literature has burgeoned over the last few years, producing one of the fastest growing areas ha academe. During the 1990's, major publishing houses have produced anthologies of environmental literature, including Norton's Book of Nature Writing and the University of Georgia's The Ecocriticism Reader. National journals, such as The Indiana Review, The North Dakota Quarterly and The Georgia Review, have all printed special issues on literature and the environment, and The Chronicle of Higher Education has explored the field in several articles. Scholars in the field have created an association (Association for the Study of Literature and Environment), journals, newsletters, and even an active e-mail discussion list.

While a new interest in the field is obvious, agreement on the place of environmental literature ha the academy, the nature and parameters of its study, and the terms used to describe the field is lacking. Yet the intellectual activity around the issues is reinvigorating humanities departments, which have suffered from insularity, bringing an exciting interchange between humanists and scientists on campuses across the United States and in other countries. Environmental literature's essential cross-disciplinary nature provides a fertile site for cooperation between disciplines and practical application of humanistic ideas. Furthermore, environmental literature, which at one time was completely focused on American nature writers, has expanded to include a wide variety of writers crossing ethnic and cultural boundaries. Because the study of environmental literature examines the natural world and human being's interaction with it, the views across time, cultures, and geographical locations become increasingly important. Historical inquiry forms a basis of understanding of our natural environment and the ecological concerns of our time. Thus, studying literary works from various genres and time periods through an ecological lens reshapes our perception of the relationship between culture and nature, the foundation of our current environmental sensibilities, and the role of human beings ha the care and sustenance of the earth.

Outside academe, the study of environmental literature has found a mixed reception. While some critics have seen the field as a subversive way to force politics onto unsuspecting students, many non-academics are joining the associations involved in the study of the literature and attending the conferences. Students are signing up in classes focused on the environment in record numbers, and numerous universities have begun establishing centers for the study of environmental issues, hiring environmental literature specialists, and providing cross-disciplinary environmental courses for undergraduate and graduate students.

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