Bringing ecocomposition to a multimodal composition course: Critical literacy and place at work in English 250

The purpose of this study is to explore how the interaction between ecocomposition and (eco)feminist pedagogy can create generative spaces for critical literacies and reflexive thinking in the multimodal composition classroom. A review of scholarship in ecocomposition praxis reveals a need for further inquiry into ecocomposition as a multimodal experience. This research study seeks to better understand how ecocomposition and multimodal communication can encourage the acquisition of critical literacy in foundational composition courses by examining student work on two communication assignments: a personal narrative essay about a meaningful place and a multimodal documentary photo essay about a local place. The analysis in this study shows that incorporating multimodal assignments into an ecocomposition course will help students engage in critical thinking about the ways in which human discourse and environments interact as well as the extent to which concepts of place, space, and environment are human constructions worthy of critical inquiry.