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"Nature
is man's inorganic body--nature, that is, in so far as it is not itself the
human body. Man lives on nature--means
that nature is his body, with which he must remain in continuous interchange if
he is not to die. That man's physical and spiritual life is linked to nature
means simply that nature is linked to itself, for man is a part of
nature."--Karl Marx, 1844 |
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"In
Wildness is the preservation of the World.
Every tree sends its fibres forth in search of the Wild. The cities import it at any price. Men plough and sail for it. From the forest and wilderness come the
tonics and barks which brace mankind."--Henry David Thoreau, 1851 "The
time has come to rethink wilderness."--William Cronon, 1995 |
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"I
must confess I'm getting a bit grumpy about the dumb arguments being put forth
by high-paid intellectual types in which they are trying to knock Nature; knock
the people who value Nature, and still come out smelling smart and progressive."--Gary
Snyder, 1997 |
About the
Course:
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This course
is one of four "topics" courses in American Environmental History. This topic (number 3) covers the American
environment and environmentalism in the twentieth century. We will, however, spend some time at the
beginning of the course getting oriented in the nineteenth century. |
This course
will consider four issues:
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First, we
will examine the history of how Americans have thought about their environment. What in their environment have various
Americans identified as areas of concern or interest? Why have particular groups of Americans identified particular
areas as of interest? In what ways have
Americans thought about the relationship between humans and
"nature"? How have Americans
conceived of "wilderness"?
What are the consequences of these definitions? How has American environmental thought
changed over time? Why have these
changes occurred? What continuities in
thought are there? Second, we will
consider several cases of the human impact on the environment in what is now
the United States. We will look at
changes in the forests of the Blue Mountains of Oregon, the Dust Bowl of the
1930s, the meanings of the Hoover Dam, the impacts of the production of nuclear
weapons, and the water system of the western U.S. Besides becoming more aware of the scope of human intervention in
the environment, we will ask what factors have caused environmental change. |
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Third, we
will look at U.S. environmental policy and politics over the course of the
twentieth century. We will consider the
history of the conservation and preservation movements, national parks, the
rise of the environmental movement, and environmental racism. |
| Finally, we will look at the practice of environmental history as an emerging subfield in the discipline of history. What kinds of questions are environmental historians interested in? How do they try to answer them? |
Course Requirements for 473: (Graduate students enrolled in 573 have separate requirements and should see the instructor soon.)
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1. A thirty minute mid-term exercise (you can
either think of this as a very small mid-term exam or a substantial quiz) to be
held Monday, Feb. 8, in which you will be required to answer seven or eight
questions. This exercise will be worth
10 percent of your total grade. |
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2. A take-home essay of approximately four
pages in length due on Feb. 8. This essay will be worth 20 percent of your
grade. |
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3. Two short documents analysis papers of
approximately three pages each based on the documents in Merchant's Major
Problems in American Environmental History. The first of these will be due on
Feb. 1. The second will be due on March
5. Each of these will be worth 15
percent of your grade (30 percent total). |
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4. A take home exam due at the end of the final
exam period. (Higher authorities have
decreed the final exam period for this course to be between 8 and 10 a.m.,
Friday, March 19.) I will accept early
papers without penalty. This exam will
be worth 25 percent of your grade. |
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5. Attendance and participation in
discussion. Students are expected to take
part in class discussion on a regular basis; in addition, each student will be
responsible for making a few formal comments about particular readings. I will grade participation on a high
pass/pass/no pass basis and will weigh this component at 15 percent. (A pass will neither improve nor hurt your
final grade; a no pass will be counted as an F; a high pass will be counted as
an A.) |
| Option 1:
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| Option 2:
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| Option 3:
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