History
A410/H511
American
Environmental History – Spring 2002
Mon.
& Wed, 11:00 - 12:15, Three Credits, Cavanaugh 215
Instructor: Philip Scarpino
Office: 503R Cavanaugh
Phone: 274-5983/5980
Email: pscarpin@iupui.edu
Office Hours: Monday, 1:00 -
2:15; Wednesday, 9:45-10:45; and by appt.
The class:
History
A410/H511 is a lecture and discussion class that is concerned with analyzing
the diverse and changing interactions between Americans and the environment in
which they have lived. In many ways,
environmental history is the story of the creation of place over time. This semester, we will examine a range of
evolving attitudes and actions (including ethical considerations) that have
helped to shape the historical relationship between people and
environment. Consistent with this
approach, I will encourage you to consider several interrelated questions: What
is history? What is nature? What is the environment? What relationship exits between history,
nature, and environment? In terms of
environment, what are the connections between past and present? How have developments in scientific
understanding shaped Americans’ relationship with their surroundings? What has been the role of the often
unintended and unanticipated consequences of a range of use and development
activities?
The lectures,
discussions, and assigned readings (listed below) should help you to develop an
intellectual framework for understanding and critically assessing the
historical relationship between people and place. The environment of any particular place -- farmscapes, suburbs,
cities -- is a product of past attitudes and actions. People also share the environment in the present, even though, as
they have in the past, their experiences may vary significantly as a result of
variables such as ethnicity, occupation, race, class, and gender.
Goals:
I have four
general goals for this class; all of which are consistent with the intent of
the “IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate
Learning,” an approach that encourages evaluation, reflection, and critical
assessment. This class will (1) assist
in developing an understanding of the historical dimension of Americans'
interaction with their environment;
(2) encourage reflection about the meaning of place over time,
especially as it relates to the legacy of the past embedded in the present-day
environment; (3) provide an
introduction to historical interpretation and to the literature of
environmental history; and, (4) build
on the analytical and communications skills that you bring to this class.
The
“Principles of Undergraduate Learning” reflect the University’s commitment to
key elements of a quality education.
You can find these Principles posted on the Department of History’s Home
Page: www.iupui.edu/~history. You will note that there are a number ways
in which this class embodies the educational goals and expected outcomes
articulated in the “IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate Learning”: A410/H511 pushes students to read and to
think critically, with an emphasis on carefully and logically analyzing
information from a variety of sources. Environmental history invites students to consider the ways in
which our modern environment is a product of past attitudes and actions. In effect, the environment that surrounds us
in the present is a “primary source” that imperfectly reflects the attitudes
and values, expectations and actions of those who shaped and reshaped their
surroundings in their own image. A
historical understanding of the interplay between people and environment should
be helpful in a variety of disciplines, as well as in your professional and
civic lives off of the campus. Values
and ethics have played, and continue to play, a vital role in Americans’
transformation of their environment.
We will also do some cross-cultural comparison in assessing the ways in
which Native Americans and Euro-Americans thought about nature as they
interacted with their surroundings and each other.
Readings:
class=Section2>
William
Cronon, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New
England (1983)
Thomas Dunlap,
Saving America's Wildlife: Ecology,
and the American Mind, 1850-1990 (1988).
Kenneth
Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The
Suburbanization of the United States (1985).
class=Section3>
Richard White,
The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River (1995).
Course
Policies:
Attendance: The university and the School of Liberal Arts now require
that instructors take attendance and that they report the names of students who
stop attending class but who have not officially withdrawn. My policy
on attendance has two parts: (1) I will take attendance; (2) I will subtract 3
points from your final grade average for every unexcused absence over four. Excused absences require documentation.
Grades of Incomplete: I will be very reluctant to give a grade of Incomplete (I). I assign Incompletes only to students who
have successfully completed most of the course work and who have been prevented
by significant and unanticipated circumstances from finishing all of their
assignments.
Cheating and Plagiarism: My policy on cheating and plagiarism is to assign a zero to the
work in question. Plagiarism is the act
of stealing the ideas or writings of someone else and using them as your
own. You plagiarize if you copy
directly what someone else has written without quotations and proper
citations. You also plagiarize if you
paraphrase someone else's writings to avoid using quotations and citations, or
if you use someone else's ideas or factual information without
attribution. For further information,
see: Campus Bulletin, IUPUI, 2000-2002, page
36. If you do not know when and how to
cite your sources, I strongly recommend that you buy a copy of Kate L.
Turabian, A Manual for Writers, 5th ed.,
(1987). A very good discussion of
plagiarism, with examples, may be found in Neil R. Stout, Getting the
Most out of Your U.S. History Course: The History Student's Vade
Mecum (1990), pp., 65-66. If you
cannot find a copy, you are welcome to look at mine.
Late work:
Ordinarily, I expect work to be turned in on time. If you cannot make a deadline, it is your
responsibility to discuss the situation with me. If something unexpected comes up at the last minute, you can
reach me by phone or on email. I will
try to be fair and reasonable; however, unless I have approved your excuse, I
will subtract two points from the grade on that assignment for each day that it
is late.
Improvement: I will reward improvement when I
figure your final grade in this class.
Voice mail and email: My email and voice mail are on
twenty-four hours a day, and I invite you to use either. Please
note: If you leave a message on my voice mail, speak slowly, provide a
number where you can be reached, state when you will be at that number, and I
will try twice to return your call. Also note: If you miss an exam or an
appointment or an assignment, it is your responsibility to contact me and
reschedule. Simply leaving a message
for me to get back to you does not absolve you of that responsibility.
Materials on Internet:
I will be placing materials on the department’s home page and on
OnCourse. You can access these sites
from computers on or off campus. I am
perfectly willing to provide paper copies if you cannot “work” the
Internet. I will also be happy to show
any member of this class how to log onto the department’s home page or
OnCourse. You may access the home page
as follows: www.iupui.edu/~history.
Requirements: Undergraduate Students
Midterm * February
20 40 percent
Final exam May
1, 10:30 - 12:30
40
percent
Readings Quizzes See handout ** 20
percent
*Midterm date is tentative.
** Week-by-week reading assignments listed on separate handout,
which will be on the home page and OnCourse.
(Exams) Everyone will take
the same midterm and final exams. Exams
will be largely essay and will have a significant take-home component. While I will not be asking undergraduate
students to write a paper, the take-home exams will provide a focused
paper-writing experience.
The dates listed for exams are (1) the due-dates for the
take-home parts of the exams, and (2) they are the days on which you will be
taking the in-class portions. I will
provide you with the take-home questions about a week before they are due.
(Readings
quizzes) The handout on readings lists four dates when we will have
class discussions of Cronon, Dunlap, Jackson, and White. On those days, I will be giving a readings
quiz at the beginning of the class. I
will automatically drop the lowest of the four quizzes.
Requirements: Graduate
Students
Midterm * February 20 25
percent
Final exam May 1, 10:30 - 12:30 25 percent
Paper April 17 20
percent
Class
Participation 10
percent
Reading
Quizzes See handout ** 20 percent
*Midterm date
is tentative.
** Week-by-week reading assignments listed on separate
handout, which will be on the home page.
(Exams) Everyone will take
the same midterm and final exams. Exams are largely essay and will have a
significant take-home component. I will
expect graduate students to demonstrate a more sophisticated understanding of
the course material, to make more effective use of the readings, and to present
a more carefully written and cogent argument than the undergraduates.
The dates listed for exams are (1) the due-dates for the
take-home parts of the exams, and (2) they are the days on which you will be
taking the in-class portions. I will
provide you with the take-home questions about a week before they are due.
(Paper) Note:
This is a semester-long project.
Please see me before January 31 to discuss your papers. Graduate students will be researching and
writing a fifteen to twenty page term paper that analyzes an important issue in
American environmental history.
Students are encouraged, but not required, to pick an issue that is
significant in their own field of study (if you are not a history major) and in
the environmental history of Indianapolis.
You should select the topic for your paper in consultation with me. Readings for the class will prove useful for
suggesting topics, as well as providing an introduction to the literature of
environmental history. Research must
include both secondary (published) and primary (unpublished) sources. I have a bibliography, which can give you an
entre into the published sources.
Papers must have appropriate citations and a bibliography of sources
used. I will evaluate the papers based
on the quality of the analysis, the clarity of the writing, the grasp of issues
raised in the secondary sources, the success with which you link evidence to
argument, and the effectiveness with which you integrate material from your
sources into an effective line of analysis.
You will need to plan ahead, because some of these books may have to be
obtained on interlibrary loan from the Bloomington library.
(Readings Quizzes) Requirements are the same as those
listed for undergraduates, although I will expect a better grasp of the
readings and greater depth of analysis from graduate students.
(Class Participation) Effective oral communication is an important part of a liberal education. I will look for graduate students to assume a leadership role in class discussions, in asking and answering questions, and in offering appropriate comments and observations on class material.