Professor Daniel Immerwahr, of the Department of History, discussed the environmentalism of “Dune” in a guest essay for The New York Times.
Immerwahr notes that the “parched wasteland” that author Frank Herbert created in the novel feels all too familiar. He walks through how Herbert’s friendships with environmentalists and Native Americans helped him create a climate apocalypse that hits close to home.
“The novel proved prescient,” Immerwahr writes, “helping readers think about the environment not just on the level of lakes or forests but whole planets.”
Denis Villeneuve’s star-studded film adaptation brought this tale of climate change to life, which Immerwahr adds “is in many ways the story of our time.”
Professor Daniel Immerwahr
Immerwahr regularly offers undergraduate courses on global history and U.S. foreign relations at Northwestern. He has taught graduate seminars on international development, global history, modern empires, the United States’ empire, and pedagogy.
Read his full essay NY Times guest essay here.