Registration does not begin until 02.10.2026 at 08:00. It ends on 12.10.2026 at 23:59.

Climate fiction, or “cli-fi,” a term coined by freelance reporter and climate activist Dan Bloom, is a growing genre that explores the cultural, social, and political contexts and consequences of climate change. In this seminar, we will examine the genre’s origins and key themes, discuss the challenges of representing climate change in fictional texts, and establish connections to current discussions in the environmental humanities and beyond, e.g., by taking a closer look at how contemporary narratives from the Majority World reimagine ecological crisis in relation to histories of (settler-)colonialism, extraction, and dispossession.
Texts to be purchased:
- Ballard, J.G. The Drowned World [1962]. Harper Perennial, 2010.
- Boyle, T.C. A Friend of the Earth. Penguin Books, 2000.
- Ghosh, Amitav. Gun Island. John Murray, 2019.
All other texts will be made available.

Students
- gain insight into the genre of cli-fi and its conventions
- understand how literature can contribute to our understanding of climate change
- gain insight into current debates in the environmental humanities

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