American Environmental History
Topic:
American Environmental History 4 cr. Mentor: Rounds, Chris
Level:Advanced Liberal Indicator:Liberal
Gen Ed: 4. American History
If Appropriate - Select Second Gen Ed Area
B. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
This study is designed to provide students with an overview of American Environmental History, then lead them into an advanced level analysis of a series of specific issues selected in consultation with the mentor. It is designed to meet the General Education Requirement in American History. The text provides an effective overview of the institutional, political and economic drivers at work in American history.
Students will begin by reading Ted Steinberg's Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American History (Oxford University Press pb, 2002). Students are expected to engage critically with the text and to maintain a Learning Journal to be shared with the tutor on a bi-weekly basis via e-mail. Detailed expectations regarding the Learning Journal will be provided by the tutor.
The text includes three parts. For each part, the student should select, in consultation with the tutor, one book or issue to explore in greater detail. Steinberg's substantial bibliography should provide an excellent starting point for this work. Before moving on to the next part of the text, the student should carry out the agreed-upon supplemental reading, and submit an appropriately documented essay of between 4 and 6 pages [1000-1500 words] to the tutor. Detailed guidelines for these essays will be provided by the tutor.
At the conclusion of the study, the student should submit a critical review of Steinberg's book. This review should reflect what the student has learned from the outside readings, and should make use of reviews of the text published in the media. Again, guidelines for this essay will be provided by the tutor. The essay should be between 4 and 6 pages [1500-2000 words] in length.
C. METHOD AND CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION
The various written assignments described above, coupled with less formal correspondence with the tutor, will provide the evidence upon which an evaluation of the student's work will be based. The student should demonstrate, at each stage in the study, an ability to capture key ideas and arguments from the text in written form. She/he should also be able to move beyond the text to explore other source material from the bibliography or discovered through research or consultation with the tutor. The essays written following the reading of these materials should provide evidence of the student's ability to engage thoughtfully and critically with sources and to capture the results of that engagement in essays that are well crafted and appropriately documented. The final essay should reflect the student's serious engagement with all of the ideas explored in this study.
The assignments are designed to enable the student to learn from exchanges with the tutor. To achieve that objective, essays should be submitted in the sequence described, and in a timely fashion. The submission of all assignments at the conclusion of the study is unacceptable.