Are you a non-literary type who has never attended a book club? Or a bookworm who is obsessed with Cli-Fi? Somewhere in between? Everyone is welcome to attend this interdisciplinary short course in climate fiction (“Cli-Fi”) and address the question: How can fiction help to stimulate new thinking and conversations about our planetary predicament? 

In this fourth year of the program, we will read our way into the uncharted territory of the Predicament – how to talk about Collapse and Business as Usual. These three terms, proposed by Ahmed Afzaal in his 2023 book, Teaching at Twilight, will serve as shared vocabulary for challenging considerations of the faculty role in talking about near term social, economic, and/or ecological Collapse. As we read and discuss these collapse-themed cli-fi novels, we will also read Afzaal’s book as a companion, threading the Reflections included in the book through our literary and pedagogical discussions of the function of fiction as a “third thing” that helps us come at impossible topics from a more accessible angle.

The goal of the book club is to stimulate new conversations about Climate (and, Collapse) on campus. Participants will be supported with monthly discussions and an asynchronous discussion board in creating course assignments for a variety of disciplines – we’d love to support non-literature faculty in learning to facilitate conversations across disciplines.  We focus on the qualities of teachable novels, and support design of assignments, courses, campus book clubs, faculty discussion group or whatever application works on your campus or just for your reading pleasure.The most important course learning outcome might be the network that we build together as sustainability coordinators, librarians, counselors, and faculty from across the curriculum. 

The book club will take place over 5 monthly meetings and is preceded by a webinar open to all, that provides an overview of this genre which is changing the landscape of literary fiction. Participants will then read one book a month from a curated book list of the most teachable novels that integrate science, economics, engineering, psychology, into humanities, communication, and storytelling to imagine a new future. A monthly discussion allows participants to meet new colleagues from other institutions and share ideas and interpretations as well as hear from guest speakers. 

Participants will: 

• Gain an overview of the genres of climate fiction;
• Learn speed reading techniques to share with students and how to create time to read more;
• Practice discussion techniques including Literature Circles pedagogy with other sustainability champions;
• Engage with faculty from a variety of disciplines including science, humanities, and social sciences;
• Integrate imagination and the envisioning of climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience.

Key Details

Course participants will meet virtually on the second Thursday of the month from 2:45–4:00 p.m. ET starting on August 8 and continuing through December 12.

Participants will purchase/borrow/find the books on their own. Use this link for 40% discount and free shipping for After World (thru July 30).

The course is preceded by a free introductory webinar on June 26. All course participants are strongly encouraged to participate or watch the recording of the webinar prior to the first meeting and read the first book before August 8. See detailed schedule below.

Registration Fees* 

* To check if your organization is a current AASHE member, please search the AASHE Membership Directory.

Discounts are available for group registration. A limited number of scholarships are available to individuals who need financial assistance to participate. Please apply two weeks before the program begins (i.e., 7/25/2024) to be considered for a scholarship for this workshop.

Registration Policies:

• Registration deadline is Thursday, August 8, 12:00 p.m. ET.
• Payment is accepted in the form of Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards.
  If you need to pay by check or ACH, please contact us at least 5 weeks prior to the event start date. Registration using these forms of payment must be received 4 weeks prior to the event start date and full payment must be received by AASHE within 2 weeks of event start date.
• Cancellation Policy: A 20% processing fee applies to any cancellation prior to July 29, 2024. No refunds will be given after July 29, 2024.
• No substitutions are allowed.
• Registered participants will receive access to the recording after the live event.
• Review all Terms & Conditions.Register Today

Register today

Instructor

Krista Hiser, Professor, Kapi’olani Community College 
Your course instructor is Krista Hiser, an English professor who facilitates the AASHE “Ultimate Cli-Fi Book Club for Sustainability in Higher Education” (see 2021, 2022 and 2023 archives), authors the blog, “Ultimate Cli Fi Book Club” and has been an obsessive reader of post-apocalyptic and climate themed fiction for many years.  She published an essay in 2010 called Pedagogy of the Apocalypse, and she was recently featured on Episode 51 of Citizens Climate Radio “Art and Identity in a Time of Climate Change”. She is interested in how fiction can help students visualize sustainability solutions and the issues and impacts of our climate predicament. 

2024 Book Club Themes, Novels and Schedule – Collapse Edition

We will read and discuss assigned chapters from Teaching at Twilight throughout these sessions, and the final meeting will focus on the Big Questions in the book, namely: What is Education For, given the Predicament?

June 26: Cli Fi, Sci Fi, and the Culture of Sustainability
Free Webinar (register separately)

August 8: Teaching Disaster Stories
Chapter 1, Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020)
Chapter 1, Nature’s End, by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka (1986)

September 12: “Something New”
After World by Debbie Urbanski (2023)
Use this link for 40% discount and free shipping for After World (thru July 30).

At our September meeting, we will be joined by author Debbie Urbanski, who will join us in creating our own discussion guide for After World. After World is a novel published in 2023 (Urbanski’s first novel), featuring an adolescent female protagonist who is the last witness of humanity’s voluntary extinction. Would the Earth be better off without us?

October 10: “Something Old”
Earth Abides by George Stewart (1949)

With this classic cli-fi, we will consider past periods of apocalyptic fervor, following the Spanish Flu epidemic, wars, and threat of nuclear annihilation. When human population is greatly diminished by a pandemic, what do the survivors need to know? What IS the curriculum for a collapsing future?

November 14: “Something Literary”
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (2011)

Choose one or both of these literary selections to contrast social breakdown followed by a youth protagonist’s journey through remnants of modernity.

December 12: “Something Short”
We Are Unprepared by Meg Little Riley (2016)
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993)