Daniel Brayton
Julian W. Abernethy Professor of Literature

- Office
- Axinn Center 310
- Tel
- (802) 443-3264
- dbrayton@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- On leave 2023-2024
- Additional Programs
- Academic Affairs English Environmental Studies
Dan Brayton is a Professor of English and American Literatures and a member of the Environmental Studies Program. He teaches courses on the literature of the sea, environmental literature, early modern drama (including Shakespeare), utopias and dystopias, regional literature, and world literature. He earned his doctorate at Cornell in 2001 and has published in Publications of the Modern Language Association, English Literary History, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Shakespeare Quarterly, Scribners’ British Writers series, and WoodenBoat. He has also had visiting appointments at Sea Education Association and the Williams-Mystic Program in Maritime Studies and has taught courses on tall ships in the Atlantic, Pacific, and the Caribbean. He has served as the Literature, Art, and Music section editor of the journal, Coriolis: the Interdisciplinary Journal of Maritime Studies. His monograph, Shakespeare’s Ocean: An Ecocritical Exploration (University of Virginia Press 2012) won the Northeast Modern Language Association Book Award, and his co-edited volume Ecocritical Shakespeare (with Lynne Dickson Bruckner) was published in 2011.
Courses Taught
CRWR 0560
Current
Upcoming
Special Project: Writing
Course Description
Special Project: Creative Writing
Approval Required.
Terms Taught
CRWR 0701
Current
Upcoming
Senior Thesis:Creative Writing
Course Description
Senior Thesis: Creative Writing
Discussions, workshops, tutorials for those undertaking one-term projects in the writing of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction.
Terms Taught
ENAM 0103
Reading Literature
Course Description
Reading Literature
Please refer to each section for specific course descriptions.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENAM 0227
Nature, Culture, Poetry
Course Description
Encounters With the Wild: Nature, Culture, Poetry (I) (Pre-1800)
Civilization is often defined against wilderness. The two ideas are not exclusive but mutually constitutive, for wilderness and the wild turn out to be central to notions of the civil and the civilized. Poets have long been preoccupied by the boundaries and connections between these ideas. The word "poetry" itself comes from a Greek word for "craft" or "shaping"; thus, poetry implies the shaping of natural elements into an artful whole. In this course we will examine the literary history of this ongoing dialectic by reading and discussing masterpieces of Western literature, from ancient epics to modern poetry and folklore. As we do so we will rethink the craft of poetry, and the role of the poet, in mapping the wild. Readings will include Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, sections of The Bible and Ovid's Metamorphoses, Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, and poems by Wyatt, Marlowe, Jonson, Donne, Marvell, Pope, and Thompson. (This course counts toward the ENVS Literature focus and the ENVS Environmental Non-Fiction Focus) lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENAM 0243
Maritime Literature & Culture
Course Description
Maritime Literature and Culture
Writers have long found the sea to be a cause of wonder and reflection. A mirror for some and a desert for others, the sea has influenced the imaginations of writers throughout history in vastly different ways. In this course we will read a variety of literary works, both fiction and non-fiction, in which the sea acts as the setting, a body of symbolism, an epistemological challenge, and a reason to reflect on the human relationship to nature. Readings will be drawn from the Bible, Homer's Odyssey, Old English Poetry, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Kipling, Conrad, Melville, Hemingway, Walcott, O'Brian, and others. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENAM 0432
Nature Poetry
Course Description
Nature Poetry
Can a poem reframe the relationship between humans and nature? Poets have posed this and similar questions for centuries. Scholars of literature and the environment, or “ecocritics,” ask it anew with reference to ongoing disasters such as global climate change, mass extinction, and new pandemics. In this course we will develop our ecocritical skills by exploring how poems about the human relationship to the biophysical environment can inspire us to rethink our place in the universe. We will read works by such poets as Gerard Manley Hopkins, William Butler Yeats, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, Elisabeth Bishop, Stanley Kunitz, Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, Galway Kinnell, Maxine Kumin, Lucia Perillo, and Jorie Graham. (at least one course each in ENAM and ENVS) 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENAM 0445
Novels Environmental Justice
Course Description
Recent Novels of Environmental Justice
In recent years the global Anglophone novel has emerged as a literary forum for negotiating issues of Environmental Justice in what has been called The Global South. Novelists from Sri Lanka to the United States, South Africa, South Asia, Britain, and Canada have recently explored such issues as hunger, land access, migration, environmental toxicity, indigeneity versus national identity, and diminishing resources in novels that explore the lives of some of the globe’s most vulnerable populations. The books we read and discuss are set in far-flung regions, from South Africa, India, and Oceania to what some have called “third-world North America.” Our task will be to theorize and interpret the way these novels represent environmental inequality, injustice, and exploitation and to consider what Environmental Justice might look like in these places 3 hrs. sem. (Diversity) (Rec)
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENAM 0500
Special Project: Lit
Course Description
Special Project: Literature
Approval Required.
Terms Taught
ENAM 0700
Senior Thesis:Critical Writing
Course Description
Senior Thesis: Critical Writing
Individual guidance and seminar (discussions, workshops, tutorials) for those undertaking one-term projects in literary criticism or analysis. All critical thesis writers also take the Senior Thesis Workshop (ENAM 700Z) in either Fall or Spring Term.
Terms Taught
ENAM 1014
Poetry & Marine Environment
Course Description
Poetry and the Marine Environment
In this course we will read and discuss Anglophone poetry about the sea, from the Old English poem The Seafarer to Derek Walcott’s The Sea is History. Our two main goals will be to investigate how poets imagine the marine environment and to bring multiple interpretive approaches to bear on literary texts from different regions and traditions. These approaches will include formal, contextual, and theoretical methods of inquiry. We will read poems by a diversity of poets, including John Masefield, Rudyard Kipling, Adrienne Rich, Derek Walcott, and Mary Oliver.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0103
Reading Literature
Course Description
Reading Literature
Please refer to each section for specific course descriptions.(Formerly ENAM 0103)
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0243
Maritime Literature & Culture
Course Description
Maritime Literature and Culture
Writers have long found the sea to be a cause of wonder and reflection. A mirror for some and a desert for others, the sea has influenced the imaginations of writers throughout history in vastly different ways. In this course we will read a variety of literary works, both fiction and non-fiction, in which the sea acts as the setting, a body of symbolism, an epistemological challenge, and a reason to reflect on the human relationship to nature. Readings will be drawn from the Bible, Homer's Odyssey, Old English Poetry, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Kipling, Conrad, Melville, Hemingway, Walcott, O'Brian, and others. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0500
Current
Upcoming
Special Project: Lit
Course Description
Special Project: Literature
Approval Required. (Formerly ENAM 0500)
Terms Taught
ENGL 0700
Current
Senior Thesis:Critical Writing
Course Description
Senior Thesis: Critical Writing
Individual guidance and seminar (discussions, workshops, tutorials) for those undertaking one-term projects in literary criticism or analysis. All critical thesis writers also take the Senior Thesis Workshop (ENAM 700Z) in either Fall or Spring Term. (Formerly ENAM 0700)
Terms Taught
ENVS 0215
Contested Grounds
Course Description
Contested Grounds: U.S. Cultures and Environments
Throughout the history of the United States, Americans have created a complex set of meanings pertaining to the environments (wild, pastoral, urban, marine) in which they live. From European-Native contact to the present, Americans’ various identities, cultures, and beliefs about the bio-physical world have shaped the stories they tell about “nature,” stories that sometimes share common ground, but often create conflicting and contested understandings of human-environment relationships. In this course we will investigate these varied and contested stories from multi-disciplinary perspectives in the humanities—history, literature, and religion--and will include attention to race, class, gender, and environmental justice. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENVS 0243
Maritime Literature & Culture
Course Description
Maritime Literature and Culture (II)
Writers have long found the sea to be a cause of wonder and reflection. A mirror for some and a desert for others, the sea has influenced the imaginations of writers throughout history in vastly different ways. In this course we will read a variety of literary works, both fiction and non-fiction, in which the sea acts as the setting, a body of symbolism, an epistemological challenge, and a reason to reflect on the human relationship to nature. Readings will be drawn from the Bible, Homer's Odyssey, Old English Poetry, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Kipling, Conrad, Melville, Hemingway, Walcott, O'Brian, and others. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENVS 0500
Current
Upcoming
Independent Study
Course Description
Independent Study
In this course, students (non-seniors) carry out an independent research or creative project on a topic pertinent to the relationship between humans and the environment. The project, carried out under the supervision of a faculty member with related expertise who is appointed in or affiliated with the Environmental Studies Program, must involve a significant amount of independent research and analysis. The expectations and any associated final products will be defined in consultation with the faculty advisor. Students may enroll in ENVS 0500 no more than twice for a given project. (Approval only)
Terms Taught
ENVS 0700
Current
Upcoming
Senior Independent Study
Course Description
Senior Independent Study
In this course, seniors complete an independent research or creative project on a topic pertinent to the relationship between humans and the environment. During the term prior to enrolling in ENVS 0700, a student must discuss and agree upon a project topic with a faculty advisor who is appointed in or affiliated with the Environmental Studies Program and submit a brief project proposal to the Director of Environmental Studies for Approval. The expectations and any associated final products will be defined in consultation with the faculty advisor. Students may enroll in ENVS 0700 as a one-term independent study OR up to twice as part of a multi-term project, including as a lead-up to ENVS 0701 (ES Senior Thesis) or ENVS 0703 (ES Senior Integrated Thesis). (Senior standing; Approval only)
Terms Taught
ENVS 0701
Current
Upcoming
Senior Thesis
Course Description
Senior Thesis
This course is the culminating term of a multi-term independent project, resulting in a senior thesis on a topic pertinent to the relationship between humans and the environment. Approval to enroll is contingent on successful completion of at least one term (and up to two) of ENVS 0700 and the approval of the student’s thesis committee. The project, carried out under the supervision of a faculty advisor who is appointed in or affiliated with the Environmental Studies Program, will result in a substantial piece of scholarly work that will be presented to other ENVS faculty and students in a public forum and defended before the thesis committee. (Senior standing; ENVS major; ENVS 0112, ENVS 0211, ENVS 0215, GEOG 0120, and ENVS 0700; Approval only)
Terms Taught
ENVS 0703
Senior Integrated Thesis
Course Description
Senior Integrated Thesis
This course is the culminating term of a multi-term independent project, resulting in a senior thesis on a topic pertinent to the relationship between humans and the environment and that meaningfully integrates perspectives, methodologies, and/or approaches from multiple academic divisions (e.g., humanities/arts, natural sciences, social sciences). Approval to enroll is contingent on successful completion of at least one term (and up to two) of ENVS 0700 and approval of the Environmental Studies Program. The project, carried out under the co-supervision of two faculty advisors from different academic divisions of whom at least one is appointed in or affiliated with the Environmental Studies Program, will result in a substantial piece of scholarly work that will be presented to other ENVS faculty and students in a public forum and defended before the thesis committee. (Open to Senior ENVS majors) (Approval Only)
Terms Taught
IPMG 8698
Directed Study
Course Description
Student must obtain a faculty advisor, complete a Directed Study proposal form, obtain signatures, and submit to the Associate Dean of Academic Operations for approval.
Terms Taught
MCCS 8301
Monterey Stories
Course Description
In this course we will explore the complex dynamics of environmental history, cultural history, and marine conservation on the Monterey Peninsula and environs. Our major focus of study will be the relationships between climate, biophysical environment, and human civilization at key stages of the region’s modern development. We will read and discuss a variety of works by historians, novelists, poets, and scientists on the complex historical dynamics of different regional groups, from the indigenous inhabitants of the region to various settler groups. Emphasis will be placed on the twentieth-century historical context, when the sardine fishery and canneries competed for predominance with tourism. We will go on numerous field trips to such places as the Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Point Lobos, and Asilomar Beach. Readings will include sections from the following books of local significance: The Death and Life of Monterey Bay, by Palumbi and Sotka, Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, Kroeber’s Ishi Between Two Worlds; Chiang’s Shaping the Shoreline; Ulanski’s The California Current, and Ricketts’ Between Pacific Tides. (This course is for students enrolled in the Middlebury Climate Semester Program (January-May) and will be taught on the Monterey campus.) (Approval Only) AMR, HIS, LIT
Terms Taught
MCCS 8302
MontereyStories, Cultures&Env
Course Description
NOTE: This course is only available to students enrolled in the Middlebury California Coast and Climate Semester.
In terms of responding to global warming and forging climate policy, California has emerged as the leading state in this country. In this course we will explore the complex and intertwining cultural and environmental forces and trends that have led to the state’s emergence as a climate leader. We will seek to understand what climate change means to Californians by studying what place and environment have meant to its human inhabitants, grounding our class discussions in the essays by climate activists collected in All We Can Save, edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson. In addition, we will explore historical and anthropological studies of indigenous, Spanish, Russian, Mexican, and US California as well as novels and poems by Californians John Steinbeck and Robinson Jeffers. This environmental humanities course is intended for students participating in the Middlebury California Climate Semester program.
Terms Taught