Date of Award

5-1996

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

English

Abstract

Long before Charles Darwin's time, members of Western civilization viewed the sciences and spirituality as antithetical approaches to life. In the last 150 years, the argument for superiority of one over the other has continued, and Darwin's theories merely intensified the debate. However, American nature writing has evolved in a way that often synthesizes science and spirituality. This thesis will discuss this synthesis, and how two contemporary nature writers have dealt with the combination of science and spirituality in the natural and literary world. The merging of these two seemingly opposed subjects may be one of the most instructive and important approaches to the earth's environment and the future of humankind.

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Faculty Mentor

K. A. Grant Jamie