Reading the Book of Nature

Such a "re-visioning" of Chicago -- one of the most storied, studied, and celebrated cities in the
world -- can be realized by figuratively mapping the literature and natural history of the city onto
the spatial contours of its geography as well as the temporal axis of its environmental history.
The literature within this topography is an inclusive category of written discourse that
encompasses poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction; biography and autobiography; nature
writing, scientific reports, and visual art; even planning documents and maps. Defined in this
way, the literature of nature in the Chicago region serves as a useful lens through which to view
the environmental changes that have occurred since the early days of the city in the 1830s, as
well as our shifting attitudes about the character and value of urban nature in more contemporary
times. Such an assessment is especially timely with the recent emergence of sustainability as a
conceptual tool for improving the environmental quality, economic vitality, and social equity of
urban regions. The overarching questions that Mapping the Urban Wilderness addresses include:
• How does the exploration of nature within an urban area expand, challenge, and/or
problematize our past and present notions about wilderness? What is at stake in labeling
as "wilderness" particular kinds of urban nature, and not others?
• What do past and present literary, artistic, and scientific representations of nature in
Chicago tell us about the character of the urban environment and our relationship to it?
• How does the quality and geographic distribution of nature within the Chicago region
impact individual neighborhoods and localities, as well as people of different classes,
races, and ethnicities?
• How can a new conception of urban wilderness provide a framework for addressing
ecological problems and stimulate an appreciation for nature that, in turn, leads to the
formation of beneficial environmental ideas and policies?
• What are the necessary elements of an urban environmental ethic, and how might a fuller
understanding of Chicago's ecological and literary histories contribute to its articulation?
Given the analytic framework embodied in these questions, my research leave agenda
thus has two concrete goals -- one short-term, the other ongoing. The first is to research, write,
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