Ireland

In this course, students are presented with a case study dealing with surface water that is suspected of being polluted. They are instructed in the composition of various environmental media, the nature of potential pollutants and guided through the selection of the media that need to be analyzed to identify the contaminants, sampling locations and the appropriate chemical analyses to address the problem posed. They then organize the collection of the relevant media (soil, water, etc.) and are trained in their chemical analyses in the Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, School of Biology & Environmental Science. The results generated are analyzed with respect to available thresholds/regulations for the various contaminants and students write a report on the full investigation process.

Hugh Kenner described Faulkner as "the last novelist," because in spite of his complex and challenging modernist narratives he maintained a 19th century-rooted belief in fiction’s humanist power and social relevance, and that the writer’s job is "to bring news of the world." This course is an opportunity to read and reflect on Faulkner in a sustained way, where students read and discuss Faulkner’s most significant and influential fiction and consider his iterative stylized representation of the American South.