History 3950; Section 002: Environmental History, Fall 2016
Tuesday-Thursday, 1:30-2:45 Eccles Business Building 116
Professor Lawrence Culver
Email:
Phone: 797-3101
Office: Old Main 321-H
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 3:00-4:00, or by appointment.
Course Readings Available for Purchase at U.S.U. Bookstore:
Charles Mann, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
Ted Steinberg, Down to Earth: Nature’s Role in American History
Course Overview:
Environmental History is the study of the relationship between human societies and nature, and how their interconnected relationship has changed over time. Americans have long claimed a special relationship with nature, and even asserted that they were citizens of “Nature’s Nation.” In the Colonial era, North America’s natural abundance drew settlers from Europe, and brought them into conflict with Native American societies. In the nineteenth century, Euro-Americans proclaimed that the North American wilderness, and the advancement of the American frontier westward across that wilderness, made the United States unique. Americans seized upon spectacular landscapes such as Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon as proof of the nation’s distinctiveness. The U.S. federal government created the first national park system, and the United States served as a primary birthplace of preservation, conservation, and the environmental movement. At the same time, however, Americans wrought vast ecological changes in North America, some of which proved catastrophic. American capitalism converted nature into a set of natural resources, which could be used to fuel industry and create wealth. As a result, the United States became an economic, technological, and industrial superpower. Perhaps America is indeed “Nature’s Nation,” but the relationship between the nation and the nature it encompasses is a profoundly complex one that is still evolving today.
Course Goals and Learning Outcomes:
Historical Knowledge:
• The role of the environment in both global and United States history
• How technology, economic change, and culture have all shaped our relationship with nature
• The changing role of the federal government in exploiting, managing, and preserving natural resources
Historical Thinking and Analysis:
• Learning how to use historical evidence to understand how our society and its relationship to the natural world has changed over time
• Critically reading and analyzing sources
• Using historical readings, research, and material you have learned in the class to make a convincing and original written argument about a historical issue or question
There are six graded components in this class. You will write three papers. Two, 3 to 5 pages in length, will be based on the two books that will serve as common course readings. The third paper will be 6 to 8 pages in length, and based on a topic in environmental history that interests you. For this final paper, you may analyze a substantial primary source or sources to examine some aspect of environmental history, or write a research paper utilizing a single substantial book or a number of related of scholarly sources to explore some aspect of environmental history. Depending upon your interests, you may also consider other final paper projects that will fulfill the requirement to conduct substantial reading and research in consultation with the instructor. In any case, you will turn in a draft topic and list of sources prior to writing your final paper. In addition to the papers, there will be a midterm and final based on class lectures. You will receive a participation grade based upon your attendance and participation in class discussion. You will also be responsible for turning in reading questions based on each week’s reading assignment, and your questions will serve as part of class discussion. This class fulfils USU’s DHA and CI curriculum requirements, and as a result is a reading and writing-intensive course intended to aid your critical reading and analytical writing skills.
Graded Components of Course:
1493 Paper15%
Down to Earth Paper 15%
Final Paper20%
Midterm Exam10%
Final Exam10%
Reading Questions15%
(At least five typed substantial questions handed in on days when course reading is assigned.)
Class Participation15%
Class Participation:
This course is not solely a lecture class, and will include in-class discussions. Your participation in discussion is essential, and will determine 15% of your final grade. Simply showing up to class does not constitute active participation. Your participation grade will depend upon your contributions to our discussions. Joining in these conversations demonstrates your understanding of the readings, and allows you to share your views of the topics we discuss.
Attendance:
Attendance is mandatory. Unexcused absences will lower your participation grade. You should make every effort to be present when we meet. The second absence will result in the lowering of your participation grade by a full letter grade. The third absence will result in a zero for your participation grade. To avoid these penalties, you must speak with me prior to any absence except in the case of an emergency. If an emergency occurs, please contact me as soon as possible after the emergency is over to be excused from class.
Reading Assignments:
You are expected to complete each week’s reading on schedule when assigned. These assigned readings provide the core materials for the course, and will enable you to participate in discussion. Failure to complete reading assignments will endanger your participation grade and make it impossible to successfully complete reading questions, essays, and exams.
Grading:
All work received on time will be graded and returned as promptly as possible. If your paper is turned in late, it will receive a reduced grade (1/3 of a letter grade a day) unless you make arrangements with me well in advance. You are expected to proofread and revise your written assignments before turning them in. Please feel free to meet with me to discuss a topic, thesis statement, introductory paragraph or preliminary outline for your papers before they are due.
Academic Dishonesty:
The USU Honor Code prohibits academic dishonesty. Plagiarism includes knowingly “representing, by paraphrase or direct quotation, the published or unpublished work of another person as one’s own in any academic exercise or activity without full and clear acknowledgement. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials (Code of Policies and Procedures for Students, Article V, Section 3A.1). The penalties for plagiarism are severe. Plagiarism or other academic dishonesty will result in an immediate F, and will be reported to the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Other penalties may also be imposed at the Dean’s discretion. These include probation, suspension, expulsion, withholding of transcripts, denial or revocation of degrees, referral to psychological counseling, and other disciplinary actions.
This syllabus and class schedule may be revised if needed. An updated version will be available in paper or online form if such revision is necessary.
Course Schedule:
Week 1
August 30Introduction to Course: What Is Environmental History?
September 1The Americas Before 1492
Week 2
September 6The Columbian Exchange and Its Consequences
September 8Colonial Environmental Histories
Reading Discussion of 1493, Chapters 1-3
Week 3
September 13King Cotton
September 15Manifest Destiny or Manifest Disaster?
Reading Discussion of 1493, Chapters 4 and 5
Week 4
September 20The Gold Rush and the Environmental Transformation of California
September 22The Environmental History of the Civil War and the “New” South
Reading Discussion of 1493, Chapters 6 and 7
Week 5
September 27Industrializing Nature and Agriculture in the Gilded Age
Reading Discussion of 1493, Chapters 8, 9, 10 and Coda
September 29No Class. Work on 1493 Paper.
Week 6
October 4The Place of Nature in the City
1493 Paper Due
October 6Making the Sanitary City
Week 7
October 11The “Reclamation” of Arid America
October 13Managing Nature in the Progressive Era/Midterm Exam Review
Week 8
October 18Midterm Exam
October 20 Friday Class Schedule for Fall Break Day; No Class
Week 9
October 25Americans on the Road
October 27The Dust Bowl
Reading Discussion of Down to Earth, Chapters 1-5
Week 10
November 1Nature’s New Deal
November3World War II and Environmental Change
Reading Discussion of Down to Earth, Chapters 6-10
Week 11
November 8The Environmental History of Suburbia
November 10From Silent Spring to Earth Day
Reading Discussion of Down to Earth, Chapter 11 to Conclusion
Week 12
November 15 Opposition to the New Environmentalism
November 17The Unnatural History of Natural Disasters
Down to Earth Paper Due.
Week 13
November 22 Discussion of Final Papers and Topics
November 24 Thanksgiving Holiday; No Class.
Week 14
November 29 The Challenge – and the Controversy – of Climate Change
Topic and Bibliography for Final Paper Due
December 1Final Presentations
Week 15
December 6Final Presentations
December 8Final Presentations
Final Paper Due
Week 16
Final Exam:
Tuesday, December 13, 1:30-3:20 PM in EBB 116.