-To provide students with a topical survey of American environmental history
-To expose students to a variety of environmental history methodologies and approaches
-Teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between
the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to
understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the
limitations and possibilities of change.  The course seeks to acquaint students with
the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between
community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making.

In general students will be expected to: 

1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically.

2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the
difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or
refute--arguments effectively.

3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that
include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising,
editing, and polishing the finished papers.

native Americans and the environment; 
the environmental consequences of European expansion; 
nature and the transformation of American law; 
early American agriculture; industrialization; 
the urban environment; 
disease as an environmental problem;
conservation and preservation;
agricultural modernization;
nature and modern technology;
the rise of an environmental movement

University honor code and academic policies regarding plagarism apply and will be
enforced.