Emma Schneider

Emma received her Ph.D. from the English Department at Tufts University and now teaches courses in the Environmental Humanities as a visiting assistant professor at Gettysburg College. She focuses on environmental justice issues in contemporary novels and poetry from North America. Her work integrates sound studies and literary studies to consider how listening and environmental soundscapes are portrayed in literature and how the imaginative environments of literature can provide opportunities for thinking beyond current ways of engaging with the environment. Literature offers a space to hear diverse voices and to help readers engage with social, emotional, and ethical aspects of environmental issues. The humanities have an essential, though often underrepresented, role in promoting environmental literacy within and beyond academia, and Emma is interested in collaborating across disciplines toward this goal. A dedicated teacher, Emma has worked with elementary, high school, and college students to develop their environmental literacy and to implement a place-based pedagogy to deepen connections between the humanities and the environment. She also leads workshops for writing instructors to think about how to integrate composition studies and environmental awareness by emphasizing local observation, research, and critical analysis. Emma seeks to develop best practices for forming intergenerational partnerships in environmental education and for communicating environmental issues through artful storytelling.