Environment, Human History & the Nature of Nature

Spring 2008

READINGS:

The General Point

This class will be driven by a set of questions that blur (eliminate?) the line between ‘social science’ and ‘natural science’:

          How and how much have human nature and history been shaped by physical and biological environment?

          How and how much have physical and biological environment been shaped by humans?

          How can we address such questions?

          Do the answers influence how we think about, value, and manage ‘nature’?

We will approach these questions, in general and in specific examples, through reading and discussion of a range of literatures. There will be a lot of reading, from five books available in bookstore and from a range of other readings on line and on reserve. Much of our class time will be committed to your analysis and discussion of those readings, so it is ESSENTIAL that you do the reading IN PREPARATION for class; take this responsibility seriously.

Logistics

We meet Mon-Thurs, 2:00-3:50; physiologically, this is after-lunch nap-time, so do what it takes to be awake and alert. BE ON TIME.

My office is Dickinson 149, and I am there most of the time during the week; in particular, I try to have regular office hours 10:30-12:00 Tues., 2-4 on Tues and Wed, and most Friday mornings. My office phone is 440-4465, my email kwoods@bennington.edu (I often forget to pick up voicemail, but respond more efficiently to email).

The books you should acquire are:

            Cronon, William. 1983. Changes in the Land. Hill and Wang

            Diamond, Jared. 1997. Guns, Germs, and Steel. Norton

          Muir, Diana. 2002. Reflections in Bullough's Pond: Economy and Ecosystem in New England

          Ruddiman, William. 2005. Plows, Plagues and Petroleum

          Mann, Charles. 2005. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

Expectations and Assignments

I repeat: there will be a lot of reading, and keeping up with it is absolutely essential to successful participation in the course. You should, for every reading, keep notes of questions and reactions that arise along the way – questions about background or fact, questions about the arguments and logic presented, thoughts about implications and connections. Bring these notes to class and so that you can contribute to class discussion; when we are discussing readings, you should always have your notes at hand. Some class time will be devoted to informational background/lecture, but the most important part is discussion of the readings

There will be (at least) two types of written assignments:

1) The weekly page: This is a vehicle for reflection on class readings (including ones that we don’t discuss that fully in class). These papers will be due every Thursday by class time. They must be SHORT (one single-spaced page-equivalent is the target; I will not read much more than that). Pages are NOT intended to be simply summaries of readings (they’re too short for that anyhow); they should emphasize your reactions to and analysis of the readings and they must necessarily focus on specific aspects of readings. Focus on connections and implications, particular arguments or claims, emergent questions that you would like to ask or pursue. Get to the point with a focused, concise question or statement that’s clearly rooted in the reading (although it may diverge from there); don’t try to follow formulaic introduction-background-development-conclusion formats (but do take the quality of writing seriously). Think of the pages as riffs on your personal reactions and inspirations. They should generally include a point or two you think would be interesting for class discussion.

2) Critical reviews: These will still be relatively short (say 5-6 pages), but more fully developed essays that present a critical analysis of and response to a particular piece of independent reading (i.e., something beyond readings assigned for class). These may be articles from popular magazines or technical or primary journals, book chapters, essays, or comparable web-based publications. ONE of these essays should address a book-length work OR a collection of shorter works addressing a particular theme (and this one may well be a bit longer). Your analysis should take into account the source and nature of the publication (for example, web-publications may be subject to very different constraints and motivations than essays in commercial magazines or papers in academic journals), and it is essential that you give full and clear citations. More on this in class. There will be FOUR of these essays. Tentative due-dates are 17 March, 7 April, 5 May, 26 May (you may hand in hard-copy in class or email to me as word-processor files).

HERE IS A PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY of readily available books that might be appropriate for review.  There are many others.  There are also many appropriate magazines and journals.  Use the library's data-bases to search for particular themes of interest.  Don't use the same sort of publication for all reviews; if you use a newspaper or news-magazine article one time, use a different kind of publication another...

Critical reviews and weekly pages will weigh equally in evaluation, and overall evaluation will also reflect general participation in class.  Missed classes will be considered in evaluation; more than two or three absences may lead to serious problems.

Tentative Course Outline

NOTE that this is entirely open to revision and is intended to give a general outline and sequence for the main readings. It will be updated, and OTHER READINGS WILL BE ADDED along the way. Go to the READING LIST for more precise and up-to-date information.

I. Introduction: Scientists, Historians, Human Nature (week 1)

          - Alfred Crosby, “Of Twits and Nerds”

II. Cultural Origins of Nature, and Natural Origins of Culture: Global Patterns, Correlation and Historical Explanation (weeks 2-4)

          - Begin reading from Diamond and Ruddiman

          - Climate, geology, and evolutionary background; origins of agriculture, technology, empire

III. Episodes: The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody (weeks 5-7)

          - Continue readings from Diamond and Ruddiman

          - Mesopotamia, classical Mediterranean cultures, Mayans, Anasazi, Polynesia

IV. Contacts, Environmental Globalization, Plagues, and the Homogeocene (weeks 8-10)

          - Readings from Mann, Cronon

          - Spread and contact of cultures: environmental determinants and effects

          - Reconstructing notions of ‘nature’

V. Home Ground: Environmental History of New England (weeks 11-12)

          - Readings from Muir

VI. The Upshot: So What? (weeks 13-14)

KW, Feb 08

VI. The Upshot: So What? (weeks 13-14)

KW, Feb 08