History 222A—Introduction to Environmental History—Fall 2010
Lectures M,W 12:30-1:20pm Starr-Axinn 109
Discussion X: Thursday, 3-3:50, Hillcrest 103
Discussion Y: Friday 12:30-1:20, MBH 530
Professor’s Website (with course links): http://community.middlebury.edu/~kmorse
Prof. Kathryn Morse (x2436, kmorse@middlebury.edu)
Office Hours: M 2-4pm, Starr-Axinn 240
W 2-4pm, Hillcrest 119
and by appointment
Course description and goals: This is a one-semester lecture and discussion course. Its first goal is to introduce students to the major themes, events and ways of thinking and asking historical questions that together make up American Environmental History as an academic field. Environmental History is the study of the ways in which humans have interacted with, shaped, and been shaped by their physical environments in the past. It takes as a central premise that our understanding of the human past is incomplete without some account of the role the physical world has played in shaping the past
The second goal for students is to develop critical reading, writing, and thinking skills with regard to the interactions between humans and their physical environment in the American past. We will follow a chronological set of events, places, and landscapes from the Euro-American conquest and settlement of the part of North America that became the United States, through American industrialization, the U.S. conservation and environmental movements, and on into the place of nature and environmentalism in post-WWII American culture.
Within those broad topics, we will focus on the idea of physical landscapes as hybrids of nature and culture, and our study of American landscapes will range far and wide. Another goal of the course is to enable students to apply the knowledge and skills of environmental historians to their own analysis of the landscapes around them, to read the historical interactions of nature and culture embodied in the world they encounter every day.
Course Requirements:
1) Weekly reading as detailed below in the syllabus and active participation in discussion sections and in-class exercises and writing assignments.
2) Attendance at all classes. See attendance policy below for further details.
3) Two formal written essays, due as detailed below, and one brief written statement of the proposed topic for the second/final paper.
4) A 50-minute in-class mid-term exam, as scheduled below.
5) A closed book 3-hour final examination during exam week, as scheduled below.
6) Attendance at, and brief report on (8-10 sentences emailed to me or brief conversation with me in office hours) ONE out-of-class campus presentation having something to do with human connections to the environment (Clifford Symposium; ES Colloquium Talk; relevant film; faculty lecture; visiting lecture; workshop).
Grading: There is no completely set formula for the determination of grades. The course requires two papers, a paper topic statement, attendance and participation, a mid-term exam, and a final examination. In calculating final grades, the first paper will be weighted to constitute roughly 15% of the final grade, the second/final paper 25%, the mid-term examination 15%, the final examination 25%, discussion attendance 10%, and discussion section participation 10% of the final grade. Final grades may also take into account improvement over the course of the semester.
Office hours: I am available to meet with and advise students during the office hours listed above (note the TWO OFFICES). If these two times do not fit your schedule, email me to make an appointment at another time.
E-mail policy: BEFORE you call or email ANY professor with
a specific question about details of the course (or about anything), ask
yourself this important question: Is
there ANY other way to gain this information or answer this question without
asking a professor? If so, use that
other method!
That being said: Students are welcome to email to make an appointment to see me, or to attend to course-related matters that need attention. Please be advised that I do not read and answer email constantly or immediately. I will attempt to return your email or call within 24 hours. If you need to communicate with me immediately (i.e. to change or set up a meeting in the very near future), send an email with the “urgent” exclamation point so that I will look at it quickly.
The above does not apply to true emergencies, such as those involving serious illness, personal crisis, or loss. In the event of such an event, I will respond as quickly as possible.
I do
assume that you read your Middlebury college email on a regular basis, several
times a week. If you do not read your
email with any regularity, please remember to ask me in class whether I have
sent out any information or updates.
Technology Policy: Cell phones, smart phones, and mobile devices must be OFF and put away in ALL classes. Laptop computers must be off and put away during DISCUSSION SECTIONS unless we are considering reading in that particular class that is in electronic form (a .pdf article rather than a book).
Paper Extension Policy: Paper due dates are set in the syllabus below. Each student has four (4) “extension days” to use or spend to extend paper deadlines without penalty. As a result a student may turn in one paper two days late without penalty, and the second paper two days late, or either paper four days late (or 3 days and 1 day) without grade penalty. However, the student is responsible for NOTIFYING the professor when turning the paper in that their free “extension days” are in effect. A day is considered 24 hours, and Friday-Monday will count as one (1) 24-hour period.
Beyond those allowed “extension days” any paper turned in after the deadline will be penalized two points (i.e. grade of 80 to grade of 78) for every 24 hours late. Friday to Monday will count as one (1) 24-hour period.
Attendance Policy: Attendance at all classes is required, but discussion section attendance, in particular, will be recorded and counted as 10% of the final grade.
In particular, all students are responsible for reading and heeding the statement on plagiarism as written in the Middlebury College Handbook. If you are unsure what constitutes plagiarism you may re-read the Handbook or another of our class writing resources (see web page), consult a reference librarian, or ask me.
Intercollegiate Athletics: If you are a member of a team whose schedule will require you to miss class, either lecture or discussion section, it is your responsibility to inform me of your schedule, what work you will miss, and how and when you intend to make up that work. I do not regularly check sports schedules or know team departure times, so it is your job to present me with that information, well in advance of the absence itself.
If at all possible, I would like to know at the beginning of the semester, exactly when you will be gone, so as to head off any complications well in advance.
Texts and Other
Books:
William Cronon, Changes in the Land
Paul E. Johnson, Sam Patch: The Famous Jumper
Dianne Glave and Mark Stoll, eds., “To Love the Wind and the Rain”: African Americans and Environmental History
Mark David Spence, Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National
Parks
William Cronon, Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
Timothy LeCain, Mass Destruction: The Men and Giant Mines that Wired America and Scarred the Planet
Andrew Hurley, Environmental Inequalities: Class, Race, and Industrial Pollution in Gary Indiana, 1945-1980
The Fine Print: While this syllabus is not likely to change too much, I may make adjustments as the semester proceeds. Any changes will be posted on the course web-page. I will announce changes in class on a week-to-week basis, well in advance of any due-dates or exam dates. However, if you are not in class to hear such announcements, it is your responsibility to find out about such changes or additions.
Schedule of Classes and Assignments (subject to change
with plenty of advance notice):
Week One:
Mon Sept 6: Lecture: introduction and logistics.
Wed Sept 8: Lecture; read for brief discussion (.pdf in class handout box on server): Fulmer Mood, “John Winthrop, Jr. on Indian Corn,” New England Quarterly 10:1 (March 1937), 121-133 (focus on the 1662 document rather than Mood’s analysis).
Thurs/Fri Sept. 9/10: Discussion: Read: William Cronon, Changes in the Land, Preface, chapters 1 and 8. Bring “Indian Corn” text to discussion as well.
Week
Two:
Mon Sept 13: Lecture. Continue
reading Cronon; chapters 2-7
Wed Sept 15: Lecture. Continue reading Cronon; chapters 2-7.
Thurs/Fri Sept. 16-17: Discussion: Finish Cronon, chapters 2-7; and 1 primary document (.pdf in class handout folder on server): John Underhill, “Newes From America,” (1638): editors introduction (first two pages) AND excerpt running pp. 32-end (in the in-text numbers) and pp. 19-28 in the.pdf numbers (easier to navigate to start).
Week
Three:
Mon Sept 20: Lecture.
Work Due: Essay 1 (details TBA), due by 8 pm by email as attachment (Word document) with file name: Your Last Name_HIST222_Paper 1.doc
Wed Sept. 22: Lecture.
Thurs/Fri Sept 23/24: Discussion: Read Paul Johnson, Sam Patch, parts I and II (through p. 77) and .pdf file in class server handout box: Chad Montrie, “‘I Think Less of the Factory than of my Native Dell’: Labor, Nature and the Lowell Mill Girls,” Environmental History 9:2 (April 2004).
Week Four:
Mon Sept 27: Lecture/Discussion: Read Paul Johnson, Sam Patch, parts III, IV, and V (through end).
Wed Sept 29: Lecture. Read any remaining chapters of Sam Patch.
Thurs/Fri Sept 30/Oct 1: Discussion: Mart A. Stewart “Slavery and the Origins of African American Environmentalism” and Scott Giltner “Slave Hunting and Fishing in the Antebellum South,” chapters 2 and 3 in Glave and Stoll eds., “To Love the Wind and the Rain”: African Americans and Environmental History.
Week Five:
Mon Oct 4: Lecture.
Wed Oct 6: Lecture.
Thurs/Fri Oct 7/8: Discussion: Read: William Cronon, Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. Everybody reads Prologue, chapters 1-2, 5 (meat) and Epilogue; then pick ONE of the other commodity chapters to read (either grain or lumber). Feel free to read more.
Week Six:
Mon Oct 11: Midterm Exam (closed book, in class).
Wed Oct 13: Lecture.
Thurs/Fri Oct 14/15: Discussion: Read Mark Spence, Dispossessing the Wilderness. ALL read Introductions, chapters 1-2, and Conclusion. THEN pick either Yellowstone (chapters 3-4); OR Glacier (chapters 5-6); OR Yosemite (chapters 7-8).
Week Seven
Mon Oct 18: FALL BREAK
Wed Oct 20: Lecture/Discussion: Reading: .pdf file in Handout Box on server: Robert W. Righter, “The Hetch Hetchy Controversy,” ch. 5 in Michael Egan and Jeff Crane, eds., Natural Protest: Essays on the History of American Environmentalism (Routledge, 2009), pp. 117-135.
Thurs/Fri Oct 21/22: Discussion: Three chapters (4, 6, 7) in Glave and Stoll, African Americans and Environmental History: Dianne D. Glave, “Rural Women, Gardening, and Progressive Reform;” Colin Fisher, “Outdoor Recreation and the Chicago Race Riot
and Elizabeth Blum, “Women, Environmental Rationale, and Activism during the Progressive Era.”
Week Eight:
Mon Oct 25: Lecture.
Wed Oct 27: Lecture.
Thurs/Fri Oct 28/29: Discussion: Read: Two .pdfs in class server handout box: Edmund Russell, "'Speaking of Annihilation': Mobilizing for War against Human and Insect Enemies, 1914-1945," Journal of American History 82 (March 1996), 1505-1529. And .pdf in Connie Y. Chiang, “Imprisoned Nature: Toward an Environmental History of the World War II Japanese American Incarceration,” Environmental History 15:2 (April 2010), 236-267.
Friday October 29. Work Due: Topics and images for final paper due by 8 pm emailed to kmorse@middlebury.edu as an attached word file labeled: Your Last Name_HIST 222_Topic (if you cannot embed your image in a word file, send it as a .jpg or other image file as Your Last Name_HIST 222_Image.jpg).
Week Nine:
Mon Nov 1: Lecture.
Wed Nov 3: Lecture.
Thurs/Fri Nov 4/5: Discussion: Read Timothy J. LeCain, Mass Destruction: The Men and Giant Mines That Wired America and Scarred the Planet (all).
Week Ten:
Mon Nov 8: Lecture.
Wed Nov 10: Lecture.
Thurs/Fri Nov. 11/12: Discussion: Read: Andrew Hurley, Environmental Inequalities (all).
Week Eleven:
Mon Nov. 15: Lecture.
Wed Nov 17: Lecture.
Thurs/Fri Nov 18/19: Discussion: Read 3 chapters (9, 10, 14) in Glave and Stoll, ed., African Americans and Environmental History: Martin Melosi, “Environmental Justice, Ecoracism, and Environmental History;” Eileen M. McGurty, “Identity Politics and Multiracial Coalitions in the Environmental Justice Movement;” and Carl Anthony, “Reflections on the Purposes and Meanings of African American Environmental History.”
Week Twelve:
Mon Nov 22: Lecture.
Work Due: Final Paper Due (details TBA) by 8 pm emailed to kmorse@middlebury.edu attached as Word document with file name:
Your Last Name_HIST 222_Final Paper.doc
THANKSGIVING BREAK
Week Thirteen:
Mon Nov 29: Lecture.
Wed Dec 1: Lecture.
Thurs/Fri Dec 2/3: Discussion: Read .pdfs in Handout Box on class server: Adam Rome, “The Genius of Earth Day” Environmental History 15:2 (April 2010), 194-205; and one other To Be Announced.
FINAL EXAM: Saturday December 11, 2010, 9am-12pm.