With the school year coming to a close, Jeffery Insko’s Literature and the Environment class (ENG 3681) replaced a traditional final with a “Petro-Party.” The event invited others to explore what students learned about oil and its impact on daily life.

Focused on petro-culture and infrastructure, the party was designed as an interactive, collaborative experience. Instead of formal presentations, students created stations that visitors could move through at their own pace.

ENG 3681 examines the ubiquity of oil, its environmental consequences and its influence on culture. Course readings, including The Great Gatsby, DUCKS! and Oil People, were displayed throughout the space.

The party format aimed to move away from despair-focused environmental discussions. It instead emphasized shared learning and curiosity.

Oil remains central to modern life, yet often goes unnoticed.

“The goal of the Petro-Party is twofold: to celebrate the class’s shared learning and to share with people outside the class all of the cool and exciting things that the students in the class have learned,” Jeffery Insko, the class’s professor, said.

He added, “I want to emphasize that learning is a joyful process. Conversations about oil can feel hopeless and desperate, but there is real power and possibilities for transformation to be found in solidarity, in working together.”

Held in the Nyberg room of Kresge Library, the event featured poster boards, interactive displays, creative writing and take-home materials. Each student designed their own station, offering a different perspective on oil’s role in culture, history and infrastructure.

Peyton Nelson, an English major, explored oil sovereignty in Venezuela and exploitation in the Niger Delta.

“These people just have to bear the brunt of oil’s effects when they’re not the ones really behind it,” Nelson said.

The display included interactive elements that made the topic more approachable. Visitors could engage directly with the material rather than passively observe.

Brooke Holmes, an English major concentrating in linguistics, focused on green infrastructure and urban oil runoff.

“You wouldn’t look at a bridge and think oil, but there it is,” Holmes said.

Her visuals demonstrated how oil pollution travels from roads and vehicles into waterways. They also showed how green infrastructure can help reduce environmental harm.

Kade Koss, majoring in English and political science, examined technology through cars, the internet and oil.

“More might not be the solution to our socioeconomic and political problems,” Koss said.

The station included poetry pamphlets for attendees to take home. These encouraged reflection beyond the event itself.

Attendees described feeling more engaged with the topic after visiting the stations. Many said the format made the information easier to understand.

“I didn’t know everything that was included in oil … just about everything we use is derived from some form of oil, even the clothes on our backs, Emily Smolinski, a biology major, said.

She added, “The party format definitely made it more interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and read something about oil just for fun, but this made it easier to engage with.”

“A lot of people don’t read essays, but when you have pictures, games, and exhibits, people pay more attention,” Shelby Shull, an English major, said.

“When things are so bad for the environment, it can be overwhelming to engage with, but having a more laid-back environment made it easier to participate without feeling hopeless,” Nick Klaver, a biology major, noted.

The Petro-Party highlights student-led learning and connects complex systems like oil and infrastructure to everyday experience.

It encourages dialogue rather than passive consumption.

Students hope attendees leave more aware and curious.

“This class and everyone’s presentations gave me a great sense of hope,” Holmes reflected.

“More discussion across different perspectives is the only way we’re going to find real solutions,” Klaver said.