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HIST200:
ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY
None of these problems is recent in its
making. Human history since the beginnings has been shaped by the
circumstances of climate, disease, toxicity in the environment, population levels, urbanization, changes in
agriculture and fishing. Human civilizations have risen and fallen as a
result at least in part of environmental factors. The history of our own
society is interwoven with that of the rest of the globe. In the first
part of the course, we will examine the abiding factors that have affected
historical events since the beginning of settled agricultural
societies. In the second part, we will concentrate upon a series of
environmental crises in the modern period which affect the future of human
society as we know it, including population
growth, climate change, toxic pollution, the extinction of species, the
destruction of habitats, and the diminution and salinisation
of the world's water supply. ATTENDANCE EVALUATION Mid-term
Exam
30% COURSE READINGS (Copies of these
are available in the bookstore.) William Cronon, "The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature," pp. 69-90, in Uncommon Ground, ed., William Cronon [E-Res] Tim Dickinson, “Diary of a Dying
Planet,” The Rolling Stone, Tim Appenzeller,
“The End of Cheap Oil,” National Geographic, June 2004 John Muir, “A Wind Storm” [E-Res] Anne Whiston Spirn, "Constructing Nature: The Legacy of Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring”[E-Res] Sandra Steingraber, Living Downstream:A Scientist Looks at Cancer and the Environment, pp. [E-Res] Timothy Beatley, Green Urbanism CALENDAR: Sep 3 Lessons of
Sep 6 Ninety-Nine Percent of Human History Sep 8 The First Great Transition Sep 10 Death and Survival of Civilizations Ponting, 68-87 Sep 13 The Long Struggle Ponting, 88-116 Sep 15 The Spread of European Settlement Ponting, 117-140 Sep 17 European Transformations “The Potato”, from The Botany of Desire Sep 20 Sep 22 New William Cronon, Changes in the Land, pp. 82-170 Sep 24 Thinking About Nature Sep 27 Thinking About
Nature , II John Muir, “A Wind Storm” Sep 29 Rape of the World Ponting, 161-175 Oct 1 – No class; Breaking News paper due Oct 4 Rape of the World, II Ponting, 175-193 Aldo Leopold, “A Sand Oct 6 Creating
the Ponting, 194-223 Oct 8 Changing Face of Death
Oct 11 - No class Oct 13 Weight of Numbers Oct 15 Weight of Numbers Ponting, 254-266 Oct 18 - Mid-term Exam Oct 20 Industrialization: The Second Great Transition Ponting, 267-294 Oct 22 The Rise of the City Ponting, 295-314 “The Diary of a Dying Planet” Oct 25 Nature in the City Oct 27 The Affluent Society Ponting, 315-325 “The End of Cheap Oil” Oct 29 The Affluent Society Ponting, 325-345 Nov 1 Polluting the World, Ponting, 346-392 Breaking News
– 2nd paper due Nov 3 Polluting the World Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring “ Sandra Steingraber, Living Downstream, 16-29 Nov 5 Polluting the World, II Ponting, 365-392 Nov 8 The Phantom Epidemic Nov 10 Becoming a Statistic When Smoke Ran Like Water,
55-122 Nov 12 Science and the Public Interest When Smoke Ran Like Water,
123-158, 159-192 Nov 15 A Global Experiment When Smoke Ran Like Water,
192-222, 223-272 Nov 17 – No class;
required lecture: Devra Davis, author of When
Smoke Ran Like Water, Hogan Ballroom, Nov 19 Wrap-up discussion and paper due Nov 22 Saving the City Beatley, Green Urbanism, chap. 1
Nov 29 Green Solutions Green Urbanism, chap. 2, 3 Dec 1 Green Solutions, II Green Urbanism, chap. 4, 5, 6 Dec 3 The Shadow of the Past Ponting, 393-407 Dec 6 Conclusion |
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