Please choose from one of the two following topics:
1. Does Buddhism have an environmental ethic? How can a tradition that valorizes emptiness and non-attachment engender a positive environmental ethic? In your response, correlate historical Buddhism (i.e., the teachings of the Buddha) with past and/or current Earth-friendly understandings of Buddhism, and use terms and phrases such as compassion, nonviolence, middle path, sunyatta, Buddhahood of plants and trees, and relational self. Also briefly consider how one other post-midterm voice in the class—i. e., a Native American or Euroamerican writer—might respond to the Buddhist perspective. Finally, argue your own constructive position as to which, if any, of the authors or traditions you examine adequately address today’s environmental crisis from your perspective.
2. According to Grim and Purdy, what is wrong with wilderness conservation, and how might Indigenous thinkers such as Deloria and Dunbar-Ortiz, or Black birder Lanham, respond to this critique? For example, the national parks movement (aka “America’s best idea”) is championed as the preservation of untrammeled, pristine wildlands for the uplift of the human spirit. But at what price was this wilderness idyll purchased? Deloria writes, “Indians do not see the natural world as a wilderness” (quoted in Grim, p. 46). But why not? In your response, analyze Black Elk’s descriptions of the clash between the wasichu and the Plains Indians around land expropriation, reservations confinement, ethnic cleansing, and the like. Finally, argue your own constructive position as to which, if any, of the authors or worldviews you examine adequately address today’s environmental crisis from your perspective.
For whichever question you choose, write a 5-7 pp. essay (inclusive of notes and bibliography), paginated, and double-spaced; use concise, compact prose; and structure the essay with a clear thesis, main body, and summary conclusion. Properly cite source material and carefully proof-read your work.
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