Office Hours: Tuesdays 2:00 – 3:30 p.m., and by appointment (Immediately before and after class is usually also a good time to have some questions answered.)

Note to Students: It is my pleasure to do what I can to help you meet your goals in this class. If you find yourself having trouble, please send me e-mail, use my office hours, or set up an appointment to see me.

Course Description

This course will examine Americans’ interactions with the natural environment using the analytical lens of history. It will also investigate history using the analytical lens of the natural environment. It will focus on how nature shapes what humans do and how nature is shaped by what humans do over the last five hundred years, concentrating on the last 250 years. In addition, the course will explore Americans’ ideas and attitudes toward the natural world and the political struggles related to the environment.

Required Books

The following list constitutes the required books for this course. They are available for purchase at the University of Idaho Bookstore. It is possible, even likely, that you could find some of the books cheaper through online booksellers.

· Ted Steinberg, Down to Earth: Nature’s Role in American History

· Louis S. Warren, ed., American Environmental History

· Elizabeth A. Fenn, Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82

· Louis S. Warren, The Hunter’s Game: Poachers and Conservationists in Twentieth-Century America

· Jennifer Price, Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern America

Graduate students should also purchase:

· Roger G. Kennedy, Mr. Jefferson’s Lost Cause: Land, Farmers, Slavery, and the Louisiana Purchase

· Mike Davis, Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster

Assignments and Grading

Preparedness Grade (i.e., participation, quizzes, etc.) (30%): For this class to work well, students need to come to class prepared. To encourage this, you will be graded on your willing participation, your preparedness, and your presence. This grade will be calculated by contributions to discussions, by attendance, by in-class assignments, and by my general observations. Students in this class represent a variety of perspectives—personal and academic—, and all students will benefit by the participation of others with their expert knowledge and diverse experiences. Each student will also lead discussion, in pairs, for one day during the semester. (This presentation/discussion will constitute about 5% of this preparedness grade.)

Quizzes. If it appears that a number of students are not coming to class prepared, I will begin conducting, on a regular basis, short unannounced quizzes. These likely will be short essays in class, but they may also include “objective” questions (i.e., multiple choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank, etc.). They will be designed to make sure you are keeping up with and comprehending the reading, discussion, and lecture materials. If I give at least five of these quizzes, I will drop your lowest score. You may not make up a missed quiz unless you have made arrangements with me prior to missing class; no exceptions.

Midterm and Final (2 * 20% = 40%): You will take two essay exams. A list of themes covered in the exams will be provided one week ahead of time to study. You will be allowed one side of one piece of paper (8½” x 11”) for notes to bring with you for the exams. Your final will not be cumulative.

Research Paper on Pacific Northwest Environmental History (30%): Some of the best environmental history has been written on the Pacific Northwest. There is so much good work, in fact, that I could not decide on an adequate book to represent this region’s environmental history. And so, I decided that this class will study the region’s environmental history and present that work in research papers. Your papers will be approximately eight to ten pages. More details about this assignment’s requirements will be forthcoming.

Graduate Student Assignments

Graduate students will be graded on their preparedness and will be required to take the midterm and final. They will be assigned some extra readings, as well. There will be three options for the major project for graduate students. I am committed to making this class beneficial to graduate students in advancing them through their Master’s or Doctoral programs. Please decide quickly on the option you wish to take and inform the professor, so we can design appropriate deadlines.

Option 1: If you are writing a thesis or preparing to write a dissertation somehow related to American environmental history, you may use the major project to work on a chapter of your research. This assignment would consist of a research paper, based on primary research, that ends up approximately 16-20 pages.

Option 2: If you are taking this course simply out of interest and not out of a research need, you may do the same assignment as the undergraduates on Pacific Northwest environmental history. However, the expectation of research is higher (i.e., greater number of sources, more sophisticated analysis, etc.), and the length will be doubled, approximately 16-20 pages.

Option 3: If you a graduate student preparing for examinations in the field of environmental history, you may use this course to prepare for those exams by doing intensive readings and writing about those readings.

Policies

Late Work Policy: Your grade drops one full grade for each day your work is late. You must be in class the day it is due to turn in work. If you do not come to class, your work will be counted as one day late unless you have made prior arrangements. With legitimate, documented excuses or for absences arranged ahead of time, exceptions can be made. Because of the ease of using e-mail to send assignments to professors, a weekend counts as two days.

Grade Challenges: I am willing to entertain grade challenges provided they are submitted in writing and that you wait 48 hours after the assignment is returned before you hand in your objection. You will then need to set up an appointment with me to discuss the assignment and grade. Also, you must initiate this process within one week of the time the assignment was returned to the class. After re-evaluating a grade and meeting with you to discuss the assignment and evaluation, I may change it.

Plagiarism: To plagiarize is to present someone else’s work as your own. To present someone else’s work as your own means to use someone else’s information, ideas or writing without explicitly acknowledging with quotation marks and/or citations that the ideas and/or writing are not your own. You may be plagiarizing even if you are not directly quoting. Plagiarism is a serious offense and I will give a 0 to the first assignment in which a student plagiarizes. If a student plagiarizes again, I will fail that student in the course. If you have ANY questions or confusions about plagiarism, please let me know before you turn in your work. It is essential to be using others’ ideas and information; however, you just must provide credit where credit is due. You may find additional information about Academic Honesty (and dishonesty) as part of the Student Code of Conduct.

Accommodations: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify me during the first week of class of an accommodation(s) needed for the course. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services located in the Idaho Commons Building, Rm. 333, 885-7200, or dss@uidaho.edu.

Expectations

Students will:

	attend all classes.
	finish assigned readings and work on time and be prepared to answer questions and discuss reading content.
	spend time contemplating the basic issues discussed in class and in the reading.
	treat peers and professor with respect.
	engage in appropriate academic classroom behavior (e.g., arrive on time prepared to take notes, do not engage in social conversations or other disruptive acts, keep wireless phones off and out of sight).
	do not engage in "social loafing" during group assignments.
	take independent steps to solve any confusion due to missed class (or other reasons) by using appropriate methods.
	devote ample time to the course content despite work, social and other class obligations.
	do not cheat or be prepared to accept the consequences which will result in 0 points for the assignment. (Further discipline may be appropriate.)

The instructor will:

	arrive in class on time and be prepared to make effective use of the students' time.
	treat students and their opinions with respect.
	be available to students during office hours and at other times arranged by mutual agreement.
	make every reasonable effort to assist students in attaining their academic goals.
	assess student performance in as objective and accurate manner as is possible and as quickly as possible. keep abreast of current events as they pertain to the course.
	continue to research and study American environmental history.
	challenge students to learn as much as possible.

Schedule

Please note that this is an approximation of what we will be doing and changes may be necessary. If so, they will be announced to the class. Also, the reading assignments are to be complete before you come to class on the day they are assigned.

Date	Reading Assignment
January 13, 2005	Syllabus

Date	Reading Assignment
January 18, 2005: Introduction to Environmental History	Ted Steinberg, Down to Earth, ix-xii, 3-7; Louis S. Warren, American Environmental History (AEH), 1-3
January 20, 2005: Aboriginal America	Steinberg, 11-20; Warren, AEH, 4-48

Date	Reading Assignment
January 25, 2005: Arriving Europeans	Steinberg, 21-38; Warren, AEH, 49-72
January 27, 2005: European Perceptions of Nature	Readings TBA

Date	Reading Assignment
February 1, 2005: Smallpox and the Revolution	Elizabeth A. Fenn, Pox Americana, 3-134
February 3, 2005: Colonial Economy and Ecology	Warren, AEH, 73-100

Date	Reading Assignment
February 8, 2005: Smallpox in Western North America	Fenn, 135-277
February 10, 2005: Early Republic	Steinberg, 39-51

Date	Reading Assignment
February 15, 2005: Commodifying Nature and Destroying It	Steinberg, 55-70; Jennifer Price, Flight Maps, xv-xxii, 1-55
February 17, 2005: Comparing Northern and Southern Economic and Ecological Systems	Warren, AEH, 101-140

Date	Reading Assignment
February 22, 2005: Southern and Western Land and Slavery	Graduate Student Presentation on Mr. Jefferson’s Lost Cause
February 24, 2005: Southern Transformations—Social, Economic, Environmental	Steinberg, 71-115

Date	Reading Assignment
March 1, 2005: Western Ecologies	Steinberg, 116-137; Warren, AEH, 160-179 (note this Warren reading is out of sequence)
March 3, 2005: Urban Ecologies	Warren, AEH, 141-159

Date	Reading Assignment
March 8, 2005	MIDTERM EXAMINATION
March 10, 2005	No Reading Assigned

SPRING RECESS

Date	Reading Assignment
March 22, 2005: Conservation Emerges	Price, 57-109; Steinberg, 157-172 (note this Steinberg reading is out of sequence)
March 24, 2005: Conservation Reconsidered	Steinberg, 138-156; Warren, AEH, 180-211

Date	Reading Assignment
March 29, 2005: Hunting, Conservation, and the Commons	Louis S. Warren, The Hunter’s Game (THG), 1-70; Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” (online)
March 31, 2005: Early Wilderness and Park Traditions	Warren, AEH, 212-243

Date	Reading Assignment
April 5, 2005: Hunting, Race, and Class	Warren, THG, 71-182
April 7, 2005: Transforming Agriculture and Food Consumption	Steinberg, 175-205

Date	Reading Assignment
April 12, 2005: Suburban Environments	Steinberg, 206-225; Price, 111-206
April 14, 2005: Industry and Pollution	Steinberg, 226-238; Warren, AEH, 244-270

Date	Reading Assignment
April 19, 2005: Modern Environmentalism	Steinberg, 239-261; Warren, AEH, 271-297
April 21, 2005: Backlash	Warren, AEH, 324-335 (Warren reading not in sequence)

Date	Reading Assignment
April 26, 2005: Environmental Justice	Warren, AEH, 298-323
April 28, 2005: Los Angeles and the Ecology of Fear	Graduate Student Presentation on The Ecology of Fear

Date	Reading Assignment
May 3, 2005: Prospects	Steinberg, 262-285; Warren, AEH, 336-346
May 5, 2005: Environmental Culture	Price, 207-256; RESEARCH PAPER DUE

Final Exam, Thursday, May 12, 2005, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.