This 100% on-line lecture course examines the interaction between humans and the natural world in the United States from the ice age to the present. The course considers such diverse topics as the industrialization and urban growth on the environment, the emergence of ecology and green politics, and creation of the idea of Nature in American culture. Students will be expected to develop a historical understanding of the major themes of American environmental history; relationships between human activity and pollution, emergence of reform movements and environmental regulations, relationships between increasing urban growth and increasing environmental concern, and the rise of environmental politics in both local and national settings.
Prerequisites: None.
Meets MnTC Goal 5 and MnTC Goal 10
Course Effective Dates: 5/15/06 – Present
Outline of Major Content Areas
As noted on course syllabus
Learning Outcomes
Identify important historical environmental themes relating to North America.
Defend a position on whether Native American cultures did or did not embrace an environmental ethic.
Discuss the significance of the western frontier, including patterns of settlement to environmental history.
Analyze the complex nature of governmental (local, state and federal) involvement in environmental and natural resource regulation.
Discuss the roles that science and technology have played in environmental history.
Identify the role of women in environmental organizations and grassroots movements.
Discuss how John Muir and Gifford Pinchot's views on natural resources conflicted and how each is significant in the US today.
Minnesota Transfer Curriculum Goal Area(s) and Competencies Goal 05 — Hist/Soc/Behav Sci
Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.
Goal 10 — People/Environment
Explain the basic structure and function of various natural ecosystems and of human adaptive strategies within those systems.
Discern patterns and interrelationships of bio-physical and socio-cultural systems.
Describe the basic institutional arrangements (social, legal, political, economic, religious) that are evolving to deal with environmental and natural resource challenges.
Evaluate critically environmental and natural resource issues in light of understandings about interrelationships, ecosystems, and institutions.
Articulate and defend the actions they would take on various environmental issues.
