SUMMER 2005

HISTORY 273 (July 18-August 12) INTRODUCTION TO
AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY

Professor Mark Spence

In its broadest sense, environmental history examines the ways in which humans have interacted with and shaped the natural world, and how particular environments have either fostered or limited certain human endeavors. Within this relatively simple framework lie some very difficult issues. How, for instance, are humans distinct from "Na-ture," and how can we plainly distinguish between human actions, natu-ral forces, and our perceptions of natural forces? We shall entertain these questions from time to time as we examine how different groups of people perceived, used, managed, and exploited the their environ-ments from pre-Columbian times to the present. In the process we shall gain new insights into American history and our place in the world.