The stories we live by: A free course on ecolinguistics
What is the course about?
The free online course in ecolinguistics is based on the Routledge book Ecolinguistics: language, ecology and the stories we live by. It describes eight ways that language encodes the stories that society is based on: ideologies, framings, metaphors, evaluations, identities, convictions, erasure and salience. Each part of the course covers one of these types of story and includes notes, exercises, videos and (for those who register) discussion groups and additional materials. The course examines a wide range of texts from advertisements, lifestyle magazines and economics textbooks to surfing guides, Native American sayings and Japanese animation. In each case, the question is whether the stories that underlie texts encourage us to care about people and the ecosystems that life depends on.
Why is it important?
The social and ecological issues that humanity currently faces are so severe that they call into question the fundamental stories that societies are based on. Ecolinguistics provides tools for revealing the stories we live by, questioning them from an ecological perspective, and contributing to the search for new stories to live by.
What are the implications for education?
For educators, the lessons on ecolinguistics provide opportunities to practice critical reflection with their students about how language is used to shape perspectives. The lessons promote advertising awareness and develop sustainability literacy.
About the author
Arran Stibbe is Professor of Ecological Linguistics at the University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester, England. He is the founder of the International Ecolinguistics Association, which has more than 1100 members. Stibbe’s scholarship focuses on how language makes us who we are as people, and the role of language in building the kind of society we live in. He has analyzed the discursive construction of health, illness, animals, masculinity, the environment, and disability.
His areas of teaching include communication for leadership, language and ethics, identity. ecolinguistics, and critical discourse analysis. He has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for excellence in teaching. In collaboration with his students, Stibbe developed and produced the free online course The Stories we live by. He is currently developing a sequel to that course: New stories to live by.
Care to learn more?
Here is access to the free online course.