|
|
|
|
History 6273 Global Environmental History Arkansas State University Fall 2007
Instructor: Erik Gilbert
106 Wilson Hall
Phone: 972-2137
Email: egilbert@astate.edu
Web site: www.clt.astate.edu/egilbert
Required Texts:
William Cronon, Changes in the Land
Alfred Crosby, Ecological Imperialism
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel
James McCann, Maize and Grace
John McNeill, Something New under the Sun
Clive Ponting, A Green History of the World
On reserve and/or online:
Charles Mann, 1491, excerpts.
J. McNeill, “Of Rats and Men,” Journal of World History, 5:2(1994).
Jared Diamond, Collapse, excerpts.
This course is designed to use the history of the human relationship with the environment as a window on world history. While of course we cannot examine in detail either the history of the world or the history of the global environment, we will look some detail at the relationship between humans and the physical world at some of the pivotal moments in world history.
Course requirements:
Attendance: This class will rely heavily on discussion of the readings. You must be there to participate.
Written Work:
For this course you will be expected to write three book reviews and a research paper. Two of these should be reviews of books we read for the class, the third should be a review of a book you have read for your research paper. Guidelines for writing the reviews will be posted to the course website.
The research paper should consider an issue in environmental history either in a comparative way or it should address an environmental topic that spans multiple continents, cultures, or regions. Undergraduates should strive for approximately 13 to 15 pages; graduate students should plan on 18 to 20 pages. Paper topic suggestions and guidelines will be posted to the website.
Presentations:
Each of you will make two presentations. One presentation will be of your research paper, the other will be of the book you have reviewed that is not on the course reading list. In addition, you will be expected to make periodic progress reports on you paper.
Grading:
Your grade will be determined by the following formula:
Book reviews 30%
Presentations 20%
Research Paper 40%
Class Participation 10%
Schedule:
August 20: Course introduction
August 27: A New England Case Study
Reading: Cronon, Part One and Two
September 3: Labor Day
September 10: A New England Case Study continued
Reading: Cronon, Part Three Mann, 1491, Chapter 1 (reserve)
September 17: The Big Picture
Reading: Diamond, Guns Germs and Steel, Prologue, Parts One and Two Ponting, Chapters 2-5
September 24: The Big Picture cont.
Readings: Diamond, Guns Germs and Steel, Parts Three, Four and Epilogue Ponting, Chapters 7, 13, 14, 15
Paper Proposals Due First Book Review Due
October 1: The Prelude to the European Expansion
Reading: Crosby, Prologue, Chapters 1-3 Diamond, Collapse, Prologue and Chapter 6-8 (reserve)
October 8: European Expansion and the Environment
Reading: Crosby, Biological Imperialism, Chapters 4-12
Second Book Review Due
October 15: European Expansion and Crop Diffusion, Continued
Reading: McCann, Maize and Grace, Chapters1-4
Paper Outlines and Tentative Bibliographies Due
October 22: European Expansion and the Crop Diffusion, Continued
Reading: McCann, Maize and Grace, Chapters 5-9
October 29: Declensionist Narratives
Reading: J. McNeill, “Of Rats and Men,” Journal of World History, 5:2(1994). Diamond, Collapse, Chapters 2, 3, 10, and 11 Ponting, Chapters 1 and 16
November 5: The 20th Century
Reading: J. McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Chapters 1-8
Third Book Review Due
November 12: The 20th Century
Reading: J. McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Chapters 9-12.
November 19: Thanksgiving Holidays
November 26: Presentations
December 3: Presentations
December 5: Papers due in my office by 4:30.
|