Course Description

Eco-Art: Making Art to Reconcile with the Climate Crisis is an interdisciplinary course that integrates the
disciplines of art and environmental justice to critically examine our role in mitigating climate change. The
course will center on how we can engage in change and artistically reflect on this environmental moment.
The climate crisis is an issue that impacts all people, across geographical, political and social lines. It is
arguably the greatest issue of our time, one that will have long-reaching impacts on all of our lives.
Through this class, students will build the skills to forge a community, engage through activism and reflect
on the climate crisis through the creation of art. In dialogue with the creation of art, students will read a
range of contemporary reflections on how to process the climate crisis and develop tools for resiliency.
In this course, students will learn about several mediums, ranging from poetry, to photography, to land
art, that have been used as tools for environmental activism. Student’s final individual projects will draw
from the course readings, semester-long journal, and various creative exercises. The final project will give
students an opportunity to explore their climate grief creatively.
Students will develop the skills to critically analyze artworks and test methods of creation, culminating in
an individual and group final project that reflects on climate change on both a personal and community
level. The group final project will be created in partnership with an environmental organization, Land
Witness Project, and will consist of video interviews with New Mexico stakeholders who have been
impacted by climate change. The final short films will be screened in tandem with the UNM
Sustainability Expo in April, along with a panel discussion with stakeholders. This course is open to
students of all levels and abilities—no previous background in art or climate science are necessary.
Field Trip + Film Screening
Students will be conducting video interviews for their community project in partnership with Land
Witness Project on one of the following days: Friday, February 24, Saturday, February 25, or Sunday
February 26. There will be a panel discussion and film screening of student work on the evening of April
20 which students must attend.

Texts

We will read excerpts from the following texts in addition to supplemental materials:
● Johnson, Ayana Elizabeth and Katharine K. Wilkinson. All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and
Solutions for the Climate Crisis. One World, 2020.
● Barrett, Terry. Crits: A Student Manual, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2018.
● Macy, Joanna and Chris Johnstone. Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In with Unexpected
Resilience and Creative Power, New World Library, 2022.

● Wall Kimmerer, Robin. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the
Teachings of Plants, Milkweed Editions, 2020.

Requirements

This course will provide several opportunities to explore students' creative processes through a range of
semester-long projects as well as introductory creative exercises. These efforts will culminate in an
individual final project and a group collaborative project.
● Creative Art Journal (semester long)
● Oral Group Presentation on an Artist
● Creative Exercise 1: Video Interviews
● Creative Exercise 2: Poetry
● Creative Exercise 3: Land Art
● Final Individual Creative Project
● Community Project in partnership with Land Witness Project

About the Instructor(s): Megan Jacobs , Kineo Memmer

Megan Jacobs (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Honors College. Megan’s interdisciplinary honors
courses range from a philosophical exploration of the good life, to evaluating art’s role as a socio-political
tool, to exploring identity through photography. Broadly, her courses help students to hone their critical
thinking skills in order to creatively construct their way in the world. Her teaching interests include fine
art (photography, installation art, ecoArt), design (design thinking, data visualization, exhibit design),
philosophy (aesthetics, material culture studies) and fashion. Jacobs earned a BA in Fine Art from Smith
College and an MFA from the University of New Mexico. Her work has been exhibited nationally and
internationally and has been part of exhibitions at Aperture Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, the Museum of New
Art (MONA), The FENCE, Blue Sky Gallery, and Currents New Media Festival. Her work has been featured
in Musée Magazine, Lenscratch, Feature Shoot, and Frankie Magazine.
Kineo Memmer (she/her) is a senior at UNM studying Environmental Science and Sustainability Studies,
with an Honors College Designation. She has been involved in UNM Leaders for Environmental Action
and Foresight (LEAF), an environmental activist group on campus, since she was a second-semester
freshman. Through this group, Kineo has organized multiple protests and community events centered on
environmental justice on campus, as well as spearheading meetings with UNM administration, including
President Stokes, Jeff Todd, and Teresa Constantinidis. In the Spring 2021 semester, Kineo co-founded the
UNM Student Solidarity Coalition (SSC), a coalition of student groups and organizations dedicated to
standing in solidarity with one another and fighting for the rights of UNM students. Since then, Kineo has
been focused on cultivating community connections and working together with other activist groups to
push for social and environmental change in New Mexico.