History of American Environmentalism
Instructor: Elizabeth Mendenhall
191.350.12
January 9-19, 2017
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday– 2:30-5pm
Course Description
This course explores the emergence and evolution of environmentalism in American political thought, in three main periods. First, early American conservationism focused on the edifying power of nature. Second, environmentalists in the 1960s-70s rejected the excesses of industrialization and capitalism, and embraced the idea of a unified planet. Third, contemporary eco-modernists favor embracing technology to restructure society for efficiency and ecological harmony.
Requirements and Evaluation
Attendance – because this course only meets 6 times, full attendance is critical. Students who miss a class must provide appropriate documentation from the Student Health Center or Office of Student Life.
Participation – students must do the reading before class, and be prepared for discussion. An engaged student will provide answers, but more importantly ask critical questions of the course material.
Quizzes – each section (3) of the course will conclude with a brief quiz about the key figures in that era of American environmentalism. Students will be given the list of figures in advance.
Papers – each student will complete 3 reading response papers, and turn in 1 for each section of the course. Papers should be around 2 pages, and engage with at least 2 readings.
Grading
Attendance 5 points x 6 classes = 30 points
Quizzes 10 points x 3 quizzes = 30 points
Papers 10 points x 3 papers = 30 points
Participation 10 points
Students must acquire 60 points to pass
(1) Naturalism and Conservationism
American Identity and Wilderness
Daniel Deudney, “Ground Identity: Nature, Place, and Space in Nationalism,” in The Return of Culture and Identity in IR Theory eds. Yosef Lapid and Friedrich Kratochwil (1996)
“Space and Natural Place in American Nationalism” (pgs. 134-9)
Roderick Frazier Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind (Fifth addition, 2014), “The American Wilderness”
The American Wilderness (pgs. 67-84)
John E. Baur, “The Health Seeker in the Westward Movement, 1830-1900,” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review Vol. 46, No. 1 (June 1959) (pgs. 91-110)
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1855)
Song of Myself (1-2, 21-22)
Earth, My Likeness
Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)
Excerpts
American Conservationism
[PAPER #1 DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS]
Roderick Frazier Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind (Fifth addition, 2014), “The American Wilderness”
John Muir: Publicizer (pgs. 122-140)
“The Wilderness Cult” (pgs. 141-161)
Samuel P. Hayes, Conservation And The Gospel Of Efficiency: The Progressive Conservation Movement, 1890–1920
Introduction (pgs. 1-4)
The Conservation Movement and the Progressive Tradition (pgs. 261-276)
Adam W. Rome, “Coming to Terms with Pollution: The Language of Environmental Reform, 1865-1915,” Environmental History (July 1996) (pgs. 6-28)
[QUIZ #1 AT END OF CLASS PERIOD]
(2) Civilization and Survival
Backlash against Civilization
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac (1949)
The Land Ethic (pgs. 201-226)
Joachim Radkau, Nature and Power: A Global History of the Environment (2002)
“Scientific, Spiritual, and Economic Origins of the Environmental Movement,” (pgs. 272-280)
Adam Rome, “‘Give Earth a Chance’: The Environmental Movement and the Sixties,” The Journal of American History, September 2003 (pgs. 525-554)
Ecology and Ecological Management (49 pages)
[PAPER #2 DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS]
Jack Lewis, “The Spirit of the First Earth Day,” in EPA Journal (pgs. 8-14)
Andrew Feenberg, “The Commoner-Ehrlich Debate: Environmentalism and the Politics of Survival,” in David Macauley ed., Minding Nature: The Philosophers of Ecology
(pgs. 257-282)
Dorian Sagan and Lynn Margulis, “Gaian Views,” in Christopher Key Chapple ed., Ecological Prospects: Scientific, Religious, and Aesthetic Perspectives
(pgs. 3-8)
Jacob Darwin Hamblin, Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism (2013)
“Introduction” (pgs. 3-16)
[QUIZ #2 AT END OF CLASS PERIOD]
(3) Eco-Modernism
Radical Restructurings (63 pages)
Simon Nicholson and Paul Wapner eds., Global Environmental Politics: From Person to Planet
Elizabeth Kolbert, “Enter the Anthropocene” (pgs. 13-16)
Naomi Klein, “Capitalism vs. Climate” (pgs. 173-182)
Danial Duane, “The Unnatural Kingdom,” The New York Times, March 13, 2016
Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis, “Scientists say that ‘nature,’ untouched by humans, is now almost entirely gone,” The Washington Post, June 7, 2016
Planetary Problems, Technological Solutions? (89 pages)
[PAPER #3 DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS]
Margaret Atwood, “It’s Not Climate Change, It’s Everything Change” (online access – 15 pages)
Mark Lynas, “A good Anthropocene? Speech to Breakthrough Dialogue 2015” (online access – 7 pages)
Nico Stehr, “Exceptional Circumstances: Does Climate Change Trump Democracy?” Issues in Science and Technology, Winter 2016
[QUIZ #3 AT END OF CLASS PERIOD]