[CLICK HERE FOR PDF OF ORIGINAL SYLLABUS]
HISTORY 3327
Earth, Wind, and Fire
Nature and
History in America
SPRING 2015
Professor Mark
Stoll
Holden Hall 135
E-mail: mark.stoll@ttu.edu Web:
http://courses.ttu.edu/mstoll/
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:30–9:15, and by appointment
DESCRIPTION OF COURSE
Through lectures, readings, and film, the course explores two evolving topics in American history: the interrelationship and mutual impact of humans with the land and its plant and animal life; and cultural attitudes and thinking about nature and the environment.
TEXTS
Virginia Anderson, Creatures of Empire |
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring |
John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra |
Elizabeth Kolbert, Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History |
Andrew Hurley, Environmental Inequalities |
|
ASSIGNMENTS
17% ea. |
Two midterm examinations |
26% |
Cumulative final examination |
25% |
Six book quizzes |
15% |
Analytical book review |
Exams: Exams will be essay exams. Students will have an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of environmental history as well as to engage issues raised in lectures, discussions, and readings. The final exam will have the same format as midterms, with the addition of a cumulative section. Missed exams can be made up on the makeup day only: Monday, May 4.
Book quizzes: Short quizzes given on the discussion day for each book will encourage students to have read the books and be ready to discuss them. Missed quizzes can be made up on the makeup day only: Monday, May 4.
Papers: Students will write an analytical book review
on a book of their choice, drawn from the professor's
bibliography (excluding edited collections of essays or books required for the
course).
Instructions for the analytical book review: For
this review, students will select a book on religious history from the
bibliography of American religious history on the professor's Website.
There is a full bibliography here
http://courses.ttu.edu/mstoll/Bibliographies/US/Environmental.htm.Students
may select another book if the professor approves it. The book review
will be four to six pages long and have three sections:
1. A short summary (not a table of contents or outline) of the book’s contents; this should not take more than a paragraph or two.
2. An explanation of the book’s thesis, with a discussion of how the author has supported the thesis. You can often find a statement of the book's thesis in its preface, introduction, or conclusion. Reread these sections after you finish your book. (Ask the professor, if you have any doubts. Many students miss or confuse the thesis!)
3. Most important, an analysis of the book, including how successful it is (or is not!) in supporting its thesis, what the author's bias (that is, its point of view) is, whether it agrees or disagrees with other class material, how it might be improved, how well it is written, and whether you agree with the book's conclusions. Would you recommend it to others? Give examples to support each point of your analysis.
Papers will be printed in 12-point Times New Roman, double spaced, with 1" margins all around (or 1¼" right and left margins and 1" margins top and bottom). Do not add space between paragraphs (and if your word-processing program does so automatically, adjust the “Paragraph” settings). If you quote directly from the text of your book, cite your source by adding the page number or numbers in parentheses immediately after the quotation. For example:
The poet wrote, “That is the way the
world ends” (42).
No footnotes or bibliography are necessary. Of course, grammar and punctuation
must be correct. For links to online writing advice, see
http://english.ttu.edu/uwc01/Resources/default.asp. Also the University
Writing Center (paid for by your fees!) would be happy to help you polish your
writing. They can help you in person or via the Internet, and can be reached
through their Website:
http://english.ttu.edu/uwc01/.
Plagiarism: Using text written by someone else (even
in a close paraphrase) is academic dishonesty. It is strictly against
university and departmental policy. Papers that have been plagiarized in whole
or in part receive a 0 for the assignment, and a further penalty of 10 points
will be deducted from the student’s final grade average.
Late papers:
Late papers will be accepted but they will be docked 5 points for
each business day late.
Attendance: The professor will call roll at the beginning of each class. Students with a perfect attendance record will receive 3 bonus points on their final grades. Students with more than two absences will receive 1.5 points off their final grades for each absence over two. The instructor will accept excuses in cases of true need if appropriately documented.
Electronics in the Classroom: Because electronic
devices distract both the student and other students around them, all
electronic devices must be turned off during class time. This means no
texting or other use of cell phones, and no laptops. Students using cell
phones in class will be asked to leave and will be counted absent for the
day. Laptops may be used only if the instructor gives permission, but
students must use the computer for class-related activities only, such as
note-taking. This means no e-mail, social media, Internet surfing, video
watching, or other non-academic activities. If, during an exam, a student is
seen using any electronic device, the exam will be collected immediately at
that moment and receive a failing grade.
Note: Any student who, because of a disability, may require special arrangements in order to meet the course requirements should contact the instructor as soon as possible to make any necessary arrangements. Students should present appropriate verification from Student Disability Services during the instructor’s office hours. Please note: instructors are not allowed to provide classroom accommodations to a student until appropriate verification from Student Disability Services has been provided. For additional information, please contact Student Disability Services in West Hall or call 806-742-2405.
Note: Any student who intends to observe a religious holy day should make that intention known to the instructor prior to the absence. A student who is absent from class for the observance of a religious holy day shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment scheduled for that day within a reasonable time after the absence. See University Standard Operating Procedure 34.19.
Required Bureaucratic Educational Jargon Section:
Expected
Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, the students will be able to
(1) demonstrate expanded knowledge of the human condition and human cultures; (2) demonstrate knowledge of the origins and
evolution of U.S. environmental problems and issues; (3) describe or identify major events, persons, and
themes in American environmental history; (4) think critically about
environmental issues.
Assessment of Expected
Learning Outcomes: Student learning will be assessed quizzes and exams for outcome 1, 2,
3, and 4, and through essay questions and an analytical book review for outcome
4.
HISTORY 3327: SPRING 2014 COURSE SCHEDULE
Date |
Assignment |
Jan 15 |
Introduction |
Jan 20 |
Were Indians environmentalists? |
Jan 22 |
Arrival of the Europeans: ecological imperialism |
Jan 27 |
Reading: Virginia Anderson, Creatures of Empire |
Jan 29 |
Slavery and the Southern environment |
Feb 3 |
Slavery and the Southern environment, cont. |
Feb 5 |
New England
and Agricultural Improvement |
Feb 10 |
Reading: John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra |
Feb 12 |
American Romanticism |
Feb 17 |
First Midterm Exam |
Feb 19 |
Transformation of the West: The Spanish, Russians,
Mormons, and mining |
Feb 24 |
Transformation of the West: The Great
Plains |
Feb 26 |
Industrialization and the rise of the cities Steinberg, Theodore. Nature Incorporated: Industrialization and the Waters of New England. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Greene, Ann Norton. Horses at Work: Harnessing Power in Industrial America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008. McShane, Clay, and Joel A. Tarr. The Horse in the City: Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. Melosi, Martin V. The Sanitary City: Urban Infrastructure in America from Colonial Times to the Present. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. |
Mar 3 |
Reading: Andrew Hurley, Environmental Inequalities |
Mar 5 |
Snow Day -- no classes |
Mar 10 |
Urban environmental problems
Stradling, David. Smokestacks and Progressives: Environmentalists,
Engineers and Air Quality in America, 1881-1951. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1999. |
Mar 12 |
The Progressive Conservation Movement Righter, Robert W. The
Battle over Hetch Hetchy: America's Most Controversial Dam and the Birth of
Modern Environmentalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. |
Mar 14–22 |
Spring Break |
Mar 24 |
Reading: Carson, Silent Spring |
Mar 26 |
The 1920s Tobey, Ronald C.
Saving the Prairies: The Life Cycle of the Founding School of American Plant
Ecology, 1895–1955. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981. |
Mar 31 |
Second Midterm Exam |
Apr 2 |
The New Deal |
Apr 7 |
New Forces, New
Fears: Radiation |
Apr 9 |
Guest Lecture: James Vice on the Pantex nuclear bomb plant |
Apr 14 |
Reading: Elizabeth Kolbert, Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History |
Apr 16 |
Dams and
Wilderness |
Apr 21 |
The 1960s: Johnson and the Great Society and Environmental
Crisis Biggs, David A. Quagmire: Nation-Building and Nature in the Mekong Delta. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010. Connelly, Matthew James. Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008. Dewey, Scott Hamilton. Don't Breathe the Air: Air Pollution and U.S. Environmental Politics, 1945-1970. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2000. McWilliams, James E. American Pests: The Losing War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Taylor, Joseph E. Making Salmon: An Environmental History of the Northwest Fisheries Crisis. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999. Milazzo, Paul Charles. Unlikely Environmentalists: Congress and Clean Water, 1955-1972. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006. |
Apr 23 |
The 1970s: Nixon and the
Environmental Decade Flippen, J. Brooks. Nixon and the Environment. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000. |
Apr 28 |
Book Reviews Due |
Apr 30 |
The 1980s: Reagan and the End of an Bipartisan
Environmentalism |
May 5 |
Environmentalism since Reagan Steinberg, Ted. Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Allen, Barbara L. Uneasy Alchemy: Citizens and Experts in Louisiana's Chemical Corridor Disputes. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003. McGurty, Eileen Maura. Transforming Environmentalism: Warren County, PCBs, and the Origins of Environmental Justice. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2007. Langston, Nancy. Toxic Bodies: Hormone Disruptors and the Legacy of DES. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010. Weart, Spencer R. The Discovery of Global Warming. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003. Price, Jennifer. Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern America. New York: Basic Books, 1999. Oreskes, Naomi, and Erik M. Conway. Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010. |
May 7 |
Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.: FINAL EXAM |