Course Description
Examination of the environmental history of the world from approximately 1500 AD until the present, with a focus on the global processes-- such as colonial and imperial expansion, industrialization and the rise of modern technological systems, agricultural intensification, and population growth--which have driven the historical acceleration of human-induced environmental change. Examination of the environmental impacts of these processes, and local responses, in all regions of the world.
Athena Title
Environ Hist of Modern World
Prerequisite
2000-level HIST course
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- By the end of this course, students will be able to arrive at conclusions about the environmental history of the modern world by gathering and weighing evidence, logical argument, and listening to counter argument.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to write stylistically appropriate papers and essays. Students will be able to analyze ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, and revise and edit their finished essays.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to identify how the environmental history of the modern world shaped diverse social and cultural attitudes toward environment, labor, and modernity, encouraging them to understand diverse worldviews and experiences.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to apply appropriate methodological approaches to their analysis of primary sources and to organize their evidence to show historical continuities and discontinuities.
Topical Outline
- 1. European Expansion I - Island Encounters and the Origins of Environmental Concern
- 2. European Expansion II - Ecological Imperialism in the Americas
- 3. European Expansion III - Colonialism and Imperialism as Environmental Processes
- 4. European Expansionism IV - The Rise of Capitalist World Systems
- 5. The African Diaspora: An Epidemiological and Biological History
- 6. World Deforestation since 1500
- 7. Imperial Conservation I: South Asian Forest History
- 8. Imperial Conservation II: Rethinking Narratives of African Environmental Degradation
- 9. The U.S. and the Ecological Degradation of the Tropical World
- 10. National Parks: A World History
- 11. World Energy History
- 12. The Rise of Modern Environmentalisms
- 13. Mega-Dams and Modern Developmentalism
- 14. The Green Revolution and Agricultural Modernization
- 15. Urbanization as an Environmental Process
- 16. Air and Water Pollution in Historical Perspective
- 17. Globalization, Biodiversity, and Biological Invasions
- 18. Plagues and Peoples: Historical Connections between Environmental Change and Global Health
Institutional Competencies
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, interpersonal, or visual form.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
