124220 SE Cultural and Media Studies Seminar (2021W)

What role does oil play in our lives? What are the consequences of humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels? This course will explore the cultural value of oil, the ways cultural texts depict oil, and the relationship between oil and the current environmental crisis. Focusing on different geographical places, including the West and postcolonial territories, we will reconsider cultures as petrocultures and thus emphasize the crucial role that oil has played in the formation of the world as we know it. Analyzing oil films, fictions, and other cultural texts, including the plastic bottle, plastic waste, and plastic art, we will trace the cultural history of oil since the nineteenth century. Some of the concepts that the course will examine in detail include cheap energy, the Anthropocene, climate change, pollution, and car culture. The course will explore how the environmental humanities can contribute to the current debates about cheap energy and climate crisis. As we focus on these important issues, we will try to answer the following question: Can we live without oil?

Teaching Mode: The course will take place online.