Course Syllabus

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Environmental History of the United States

Course goals:

1. Method: students should leave this course with an understanding of the interdisciplinary power of an environmental history approach that puts in dialogue the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

2. Content: students should leave this course with a new framework for understanding the history of the United States that places human-nature interactions at the center.

3.  Thought, Research, Writing: students should leave this course with an expanded set of research, critical thinking, and writing skills, developed through a focused project on a specific site.  

Course format:

The course is structured in a lecture/section format.  The twice-weekly "lecture" usually includes a mix of lecture and small group discussion, and on some occasions outdoor exploration in the Cambridge area. In what format is the course conducted (ex: lecture and required discussion section). 

Typical enrollees:

This course is designed for anyone interested in a historical perspective on the relations between human beings and the non-human environment in the North America now known as the United States.  Or, conversely, anyone interested in an environmental perspective on the history of the United States. No special background or expertise is required. 

When is course typically offered?

This is the first time this course is being offered.  It is likely to be offered each fall or perhaps every third semester. 

What can students expect from you as an instructor?

I approach teaching and learning from a holistic place, which is to say that I try to make specific class work--assignments, lectures, sections, activities--speak consistently to the goals of the course.  For me, a lecture section should be more than a content drop; it can also be a place for Socratic dialogue, for discussion and synthesis, for new ideas.  My inclination, when using a powerpoint, is to offer an illustration or to set up a primary text for us to discuss.  In terms of a course research project, I find that students (in this course, in different university contexts) have appreciated the opportunity to use historical tools and strategies to come to know a place deeply. 

Assignments and grading:

             Reading outline:  Changes in the Land                                               5%

            Weekly Assignments                                                                           20%                

            Final Paper or Project, 2000 words                                                    25%

            Scaffold writing for final project                                                         25%

                        Proposal, Secondary Sources, Primary Sources,

                        Outline, Introduction and Conclusion Paragraphs

            Class and section attendance and participation                                 25%

The final project will ask you to craft a miniature environmental history of a particular place, to be chosen by you. 

Sample reading list:

William Cronon, Changes in the Land,

Lisa Brooks, ‘Alnôbawôgan, Wlôgan, Awikhigan: Entering Native Space,’ The Common Pot: Entering Native Space in the Northeast

Charles Mann, “1491,” The Atlantic (2002)

Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, “Follow the Corn,” An Indigenous People’s History of the United States

Mark Fiege, ‘King Cotton: The Cotton Plant and Southern Slavery’ in Fiege, The Republic of Nature: An Environmental History of the United States

Ariel Ron, “When Hay Was King: Energy History and Economic Nationalism in the Nineteenth-Century United States.” The American Historical Review 128, no. 1 (March 2023): 177–213. 

Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons” 

 Jason W. Moore, ‘The Rise of Cheap Nature’ in Jason W. Moore et al., Anthropocene or Capitalocene?: Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalism (Oakland: PM Press, 2016), p.78-115. 

Henry David Thoreau, from Walden

Aldo Leopold, “Thinking Like a Mountain,” Sand County Almanac

William Cronon, “The Trouble with Wilderness,” Uncommon Ground

Lauret Savoy, ‘Alien Land Ethic: The Distance Between’ in Trace: Memory, History, Race and The American Landscape (2015), p. 31-48.

'Police and Waterworks on the Border: Aspirations to Control through Building’ (1924-1954) and ‘Building the Border of Today’ in C. J. Alvarez, Border Land, Border Water: A History of Construction on the US-Mexico Divide

Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor

Jill S. Schneiderman, ‘The Anthropocene Controversy’ in Richard Grusin, ed. Anthropocene Feminism

Enrollment cap, selection process, notification:

There is no enrollment cap for this course.

Draft syllabus:

Environmental History 2024 DRAFT.docx

Absence and late work policies:

Each student will have a no-questions-asked extension bank of 24 hours. You can divide those hours up as best fits your needs.  If extenuating circumstances demand a longer extension, please contact the instructor directly.