The Department of English at American International University-Bangladesh organized an in-house webinar titled "LITERATURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT: GREENING TERTIARY EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH” at 7:30 PM on July 29, 2021. Shibaji Mridha, an Assistant Professor of Department of English was the speaker in the webinar. Professor Tasnim Siraj Mahbub, an eminent scholar of the Department of Applied Linguistics and ELT, Dhaka University was present on the occasion. The opening speech was delivered by Mr. Hamidul Haque, Head of the Department of English, AIUB. The Honorable Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, AIUB, Professor Dr. Tazul Islam who was also present on the occasion delivered a very inspirational welcoming speech. The speaker Mr. Shibaji Mridha started the webinar with a touchy video clip on the theme of an entangled relationship of all of us with Mother Nature and importance of being aware of this relationship to save our existence. In the webinar, the speaker presented an overview of ecocriticism/ environmental humanities and talked about its expansive interdisciplinary scope. He briefly discussed the present status of ecocritical study in Bangladeshi tertiary education and provided recommendations regarding its future scope in Bangladeshi context. The speaker basically focused on our ethical responsibility towards the environment and ecosystem. He also shared a sample paper written by himself on ecocriticism. The ability of the humans to change the fate of the environment of the earth was implied in the speech with vivid suggestions. The concept of humans as a very self-interested species is the basic implication of ecocriticism. The love and respect of humans towards other species in the environment is essential for the humans to lead a safe life. Mr Shibaji referred to Animal Farm, Mahesh, Heart of Darkness and many more literary pieces that focus on the human’s exploitation of natural resources and animals. One of the themes of the webinar, “Environmental Racism” focuses on mainstream negligence to people of color which is relevant in Bangladeshi context because although we are not racially divided society, we have social inequality prevalent in the integral steps and parts of our society. Rana plaza tragedy or Fulbaria tragedy in Dinajpur are all the disasters to environment as well as humans which occurred only because of the material interest of the humans. Environmental Justice and environmental racism as a third wave of ecocriticism with reference to the materiality as an opponent of the natural system was elaborately discussed. The idea that nature is not beyond us, it is around us where humans act and play and this theme has been the content of ecocriticism and environmental thinkers and writers of USA, UK and other parts of the world. This was also the point of awareness that developed among the audience after attending the webinar. Teachers and students of Department of English, AIUB were present among the audience. The coordinator of the “Seminar, Workshop and Outreach” sub-committee and Associate Professor of English Department, Mr. Asif Kamal organized and Assistant Professor Mr. Shihab Sakib moderated the webinar.
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