The Blue Humanities

Dr. McMillin shares his presentation on the Blue Humanities, which he gave at the IHC Summer Teacher Institute, An Environment of Hope, with our listeners. In this session, participants will be introduced to the “blue humanities,” with particular focus on rivers and literature. There are three main parts: Why Teach Blue Humanities, What to Teach If You Teach Blue Humanities, and How to Teach Blue Humanities. Part one (Why) centers around hope, and the ways that literature fosters hope through “Connecting” (making connections, belonging to the world, participating), “Flowing” (moving connectedly and connectively, changing, adapting), and “Reflecting” (re-viewing, re-seeing, re-thinking). In part two (What), we will explore different ways of using Blue Humanities in the classroom, including examples of semester-long courses (from both scientific and literary perspectives) and shorter units. The final section (How) involves looking at several literary works and thinking about their different approaches to rivers and the concept of “home.”

Watch the video here.