Mon Dec 1 12:41:04 2008
| Effective Term: |
New:
1109 - Fall 2010 Old: 1089 - Fall 2008 |
|---|---|
| Department: |
New:
11142 - Science & Technology, Hist of Old: 11142 - IT Hist of Sci & Tech/Prog in |
|
Catalog Description: |
New:
How
humans have developed theories/observations over 400 years about life
on earth. Learning and applying historical methodologies to
environmental topics: Holocene extinction; ENSO & famines; human
population growth; the Dust Bowl & soil conservation; DDT &
falcon repatriation; disease & responses to pandemics. Critically
evaluating scientific ideas, environmental debates across national
boundaries. Origins of life on earth. Evolution and natural theology.
Ecosystems. Old: How humans have developed theories/observations over 400 years about life on earth. Applying a historical perspective to issues today. Scientific ideas, environmental debates across national boundaries. Origins of life on earth. Evolution and natural theology. Ecosystems. Agricultural/industrial environmental degradation and species regeneration. "Guns, germs, and steel" hypothesis. Disease threats such as tuberculosis, influenza. |
| Editor Comments: |
New:
LE Recertification Old: <no text provided> |
|
Faculty Sponsor E-mail Address: |
New:
jone0996@umn.edu Old: |
|
Requirement this course fulfills: |
New:
HIS
- HIS Historical Perspectives
Old: HP - HP Historical Perspective Core |
|
Other requirement this course fulfills: |
New:
ENV
- ENV The Environment
Old: ENVT - ENVT Environment Theme |
|
Criteria for Core Courses: |
Describe how the course meets the specific bullet points for the proposed core
requirement. Give concrete and detailed examples for the course syllabus, detailed
outline, laboratory material, student projects, or other instructional materials or method.
Core courses must meet the following requirements:
New: Liberal education goals overall: In this course, students apply a methodology (Historical Perspectives) to a content subject (human interactions with the Environment). We are not the first peoples to be faced with complex environmental problems. Certainly the fascinating episodes of past human/environmental interactions stand on their own and also help us to comprehend the roots of our current situation. Historical analysis offers even more, however: as historical actors did, we are currently framing and constructing our interpretations of scientific data within the context of an array of cultural values. Historical methods allow us to be self-aware of this process and thus engage with the science and policy surrounding environmental issues in a far more sophisticated way. This is a key goal of “liberal education”—being more savvy users of information, as well as being able to think independently about problems we will all continue to face in the future from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The students apply the skills taught in this course in several ways: by analyzing a primary source for a written assignment; by being asked to assess other historians’ work critically (on essay exams); and by participating in group activities and discussion projects (ex. Calculating the carbon footprint for themselves, then being asked to evaluate how different this would have been for a citizen living 100 years ago). Please see the attached syllabus for details of class activities throughout the semester. Historical Perspectives: Students will work with both primary and secondary sources to examine the beliefs, practices and relationships that have shaped human interactions with the environment—and people’s different stories and explanations about these interactions. In both lecture and discussion section, the course emphasizes the processes that historians use to collect, understand, and write about primary sources on the history of life on earth. We present different viewpoints on historical methodology and use secondary source readings to illustrate these different methodologies. This course is designed not only to present to students the most recent historical analyses but also to help them practice the processes of thinking historically, posing historical questions, analyzing primary sources, and developing explanations for change over time. For example, students will analyze a primary source, Carolus Linnaeus’ 1781 essay “On the Police of Nature,” demonstrating how historical methods can be useful in understanding this essay. In midterm and final take-home essay examinations, students will be asked to evaluate the uses and limitations of the many primary sources they have read throughout this course, as well as their critiques of the secondary sources we read. By the end of this course, students will be able to read both primary and secondary sources critically—skills that are crucial to understanding the vast amount of information that bombards us every day. Please see the attached syllabus for further details. Old: This course is designed not only to present to students the most recent historical analyses but also to introduce them to the processes of thinking historically, posing historical questions, analyzing primary sources, and developing explanations for change over time. Lectures will present material both on the central ideas and interpretations of various topics and the evolution of these ideas as historians pose new questions and examine new sources. Students will read both primary and secondary sources. Recitation sections will provide hands-on experiences of analyzing documents, posing questions, and evaluating different modes of historical explanation. Students are introduced in this course to some of the standard methods and problems of intellectual and social history. The chief intellectual problem is the dynamic view of the appropriate relationship between humans and “nature.” Students read the work of intellectual historians, environmental historians and historians of science to help them interpret primary texts concerned with this intellectual problem. Students explore questions of race, class and gender in conjunction with interpretations of the living world, both in terms of social institutions and structures (such as scientists’ laboratories) and in terms of the gendering and economic evaluation of nature itself. Finally, students are asked to explore various ways to interpret human actions that impact the natural world. This course will provide a base of knowledge and skills to prepare students for more advanced History of Science and Technology courses. |
|
Criteria for Theme Courses: |
Describe how the course meets the specific bullet points for the proposed theme
requirement. Give concrete and detailed examples for the course syllabus, detailed outline,
laboratory material, student projects, or other instructional materials or methods. Theme courses have the common goal of cultivating in students a number of habits of mind:
New: Theme course goals overall: This course seeks to understand the emergence of biological knowledge and environmental policy as a cultural expression of human interactions with the environment over time. The course will examine how fundamental changes in the environment brought about by human activity have altered ecosystems, the size of the human population, species diversity, and patterns of disease and death. Since at least the technological revolution of the Neolithic period, humans have substantially altered the biosphere and hence their relationship to other species. We will illustrate how some major changes in the way humans have lived over time have altered their environment and thus their interpretation of it. The course demonstrates the continuity between the historical processes we examine through much of the semester and the ecological and evolutionary processes at work today. Changing scientific prescriptions for environmental preservation will be examined, with the students debating the advantages, disadvantages and unintended consequences of possible solutions to environmental problems. The Environment: In this course, students will consider the interactions between humans and the environment in the context of the cultural values and social structures of the time period. Topics include the Holocene extinction event; ENSO effects and famines; Malthus, Ehrlich and the “population bomb” thesis, Borlaug and the “green revolution,” population regulation and dematerialization; soil conservation and other responses to the Dust Bowl; DDT and the endangering of bird species; and the ecology of disease and responses to pandemics. Students will calculate their own carbon footprint and design repatriation procedures for peregrine falcon populations. These case studies allow them to debate the changing impacts of human populations on the environment and potential solutions to these problems. For example, we will read the work of Rachel Carson, exploring the scientific understanding of DDT’s movements through the trophic levels of the environment; then we will study the Minnesota Peregrine Falcon repatriation project, including an in-class group discussion on designing an appropriate repatriation plan based on Professor Don Alstad’s data on falcon ecology. The theme of human population growth takes us from Thomas Malthus’ 1798 Essay on the Principle of Population through the severe famines and ENSO events of the Victorian period to current debates over dematerialization and population regulation. Our analysis of these case studies will provide a framework for students to be able to use in considering other proposals for sustainable human-environmental interactions. Old: This course seeks to understand the emergence of biological knowledge as a cultural expression of human interactions with the environment. There are three major thematic sections to the course: origins of life on earth; theories of how life on earth changes over time; and the ways that living things influence each other. The course will examine how fundamental changes in the environment brought about by human activity have altered ecosystems, the size of the human population, species diversity, and patterns of disease and death. Since at least the technological revolution of the Neolithic period, humans have substantially altered the biosphere and hence their relationship to other species. We will illustrate how some major changes in the way humans have lived over time have altered their environment and thus their interpretation of it. Specific topics include: Theories of extinction of species and ecological imperialism: globalization of domesticated plants and animals that crowded out native species; bringing lethal infection from endemic disease pools to populations that had no prior exposure to these agents. Theories of ecosystem development and collapse: ecologists’ theories of ecosystem equilibrium and warnings about continuing disruption of ecosystems. Early expressions of environmentalism: George Perkins Marsh, British naturalists in India, and others expressed human responsibility for the land in the 1700s and 1800s. Environmental implications of agricultural and industrial activities: students read and analyze, among other sources, the classic historical statement--Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. How changes in human patterns of environmental usage contributed to outbreaks of human disease: Intimate contact with herd animals, permanent agricultural settlements, and large concentrations of humans permitted microorganisms which previously existed in animals (such as tuberculosis and influenza) to adapt to human hosts. The course demonstrates the continuity between the historical processes we examine through much of the semester and the ecological and evolutionary processes at work today. Changing scientific prescriptions for environmental preservation will be examined, along with current problems related to the historical ones discussed: concerns over historically deforested areas contributing to global environment change; efforts to repair agricultural damage; and the re-emergence of “environmental” diseases once considered rare or eradicated (such as influenza). |
|
Provisional Syllabus: |
Please
provide a provisional syllabus for new courses and courses in which
changes in content and/or description and/or credits are proposed that
include the following information: course goals and description;
format/structure of the course (proposed number of instructor contact
hours per week, student workload effort per week, etc.); topics to be
covered; scope and nature of assigned readings (texts, authors,
frequency, amount per week); required course assignments; nature of any
student projects; and how students will be evaluated. The University policy on credits is found under Section 4A of "Standards for Semester Conversion" at http://www.fpd.finop.umn.edu/groups/senate/documents/policy/semestercon.html . Provisional course syllabus information will be retained in this system until new syllabus information is entered with the next major course modification, This provisional course syllabus information may not correspond to the course as offered in a particular semester. New: HSCI 1212/1214W Life on Earth: Perspectives on Biology Professor Susan D. Jones Program in the History of Science and Technology Jone0996@umn.edu 508 Ecology Building Description: This course explores how people have developed theories and observations over the past 400 years about life on earth, focusing especially on how narratives of the interdependency of humans and the natural environment have changed over time. Topics include: theories about the origins of life on earth; evolution and other theories about how living things have changed in form; beliefs about the human place in nature (including sustaining human populations); agricultural and industrial environmental degradation and peoples’ visions and actions toward environmental regeneration; and changing explanations for mass extinction events, pandemics, and other episodes within the context of global climate change. Within each thematic section, we will proceed chronologically to expose patterns of historical development. Liberal Education Requirements: this course fulfills requirements for Historical Perspectives (Core) and The Environment (Theme). HSCI 1214W also fulfills the Writing Intensive requirement. Historical Perspectives You will work with both primary and secondary sources to examine the beliefs, practices and relationships that have shaped human interactions with the environment—and people’s different stories and explanations about these interactions. In both lecture and discussion section, we emphasize the processes that historians use to collect, understand, and write about primary sources on the history of life on earth. We present different viewpoints on historical methodology and use secondary source readings to illustrate these different methodologies. For example, we will help you to analyze a primary source, Carolus Linnaeus’ 1781 essay “On the Police of Nature,” asking you to demonstrate how historical methods can be useful in understanding this essay. In your midterm and final take-home essay examinations, you will be asked to evaluate the uses and limitations of the many primary sources you read throughout this course, as well as your critiques of the secondary sources we read. By the end of this course, you will be able to read both primary and secondary sources critically—skills that are crucial to understanding the vast amount of information that bombards us every day. The Environment In this course, you will consider the interactions between humans and the environment in the context of the cultural values and social structures of the time period. You’ll study the Holocene extinction event; ENSO effects and famines; Malthus, Ehrlich and the “population bomb” thesis, Borlaug and the “green revolution,” population regulation and dematerialization; soil conservation and other responses to the Dust Bowl; DDT and the endangering of bird species; and the ecology of disease and responses to pandemics. You will calculate your own carbon footprint and design repatriation procedures for peregrine falcon populations. These case studies allow you to debate the changing impacts of human populations on the environment and potential solutions to these problems. For example, we will read the work of Rachel Carson, exploring the scientific understanding of DDT’s movements through the trophic levels of the environment; then we will study the Minnesota Peregrine Falcon repatriation project, including an in-class group discussion on designing an appropriate repatriation plan based on Professor Don Alstad’s data on falcon ecology. The theme of human population growth takes us from Thomas Malthus’ 1798 Essay on the Principle of Population through the severe famines and ENSO events of the Victorian period to current debates over dematerialization and population regulation. Our analysis of these case studies will provide a framework for you to be able to use in considering other proposals for sustainable human-environmental interactions. Historical Perspectives on the Environment You may wonder why a course should combine these two seemingly very different ‘subjects.’ Actually, we are applying a methodology (Historical Perspectives) to a content subject (human interactions with the Environment). We are not the first peoples to be faced with complex environmental problems. Certainly the fascinating episodes of past human/environmental interactions stand on their own and also help us to comprehend the roots of our current situation. Historical analysis offers even more, however: as historical actors did, we are currently framing and constructing our interpretations of scientific data within the context of an array of cultural values. Historical methods allow us to be self-aware of this process and thus engage with the science and policy surrounding environmental issues in a far more sophisticated way. This is a key goal of “liberal education”—being more savvy users of information, as well as being able to think independently about problems we all face from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Course Requirements: Regular attendance and participation in lecture and section; reading around 40 pages per week; 2 quizzes; writing assignment; and essay midterm and final examinations. Grading for HSCI 1212 (1214W, see your Assignments for your grading): Participation in section and lecture discussions 20% Two quizzes (Feb 6 or 7; April 9 or 10) 10% each (20%) Linnaeus writing assignment 10% In-class essay midterm (March 11) 20% Take-home essay final examination (May 15) 30% Course Materials: All readings and course materials are available on the HSCI 1212/1214W WebVista site. There are no textbooks, nor is there a paper reader. You may read the assignments online; you may also print them out from the course site. To log on to the WebVista course site for this class, go to www.myu.umn.edu. Sign in to “MyU.” You will be prompted for your U of M Internet ID (your username as in username@umn.edu) and password (if you do not know your Internet ID or have forgotten your password, call the ADCS helpline at 626-4276). Click on the “My Courses and Teaching” tab, and scroll down to “HSCI 1212 WebVista Course Link.” [NOTE: The first time you use WebVista, you should click on the “My WebVista” tab and get instructions for configuring your Internet browser to accept popups from WebVista.] Once you have successfully logged on, you should have no other problems for the rest of the semester. WEEK ONE: JANUARY 22 & 24 Tuesday: Overview of the course; introduction to topics and historical methodology. Thursday: Defining “Life” in different places and times; Origin Theories and Creation Stories Discussion section: Historical perspective and “time traveling”; understanding roots of some basic values behind environmental policies By Wednesday, read: • Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History 5th edition (New York: Pearson Education, 2005), pp. 1-28, “Writing History as a Way of Thinking” and “Basic Principles for History Essays” • Early Origin Theories and Creation Stories o Excerpt from the book of Genesis, chs. 1, 2, 3, 9 o Barbara C. Sproul, Primal Myths: Creating the World (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), pp. 31-34, 36-37, 152-3, 245-8, 255-7 (creation narratives from various cultures). WEEK TWO: JANUARY 29 & 31 Under what conditions did life form on earth? Where did it come from? How have we understood the origins of human life on earth over time? What do these theories have to say about the place of humans in nature? Tuesday: Sparks and Life; Miller’s experiments and “Primordial Soup”; abiogenesis (including excerpts from the film: “How Life Began,” from the NOVA Origins series) Thursday: Human origins theories over time; discussion on how narratives were constructed over time to shape interactions between humans and nature Discussion Section: Cultural history analysis of narratives about the origins of human life: Adam, Eve and Monogenism vs Scientific Polygenism, class discussion (implications for nature of race in the nineteenth century) HSCI 1212: in-class writing brief writing assignment HSCI 1214W: all of the above plus extra Marius and Page reading; also hand out essay question for first critical essay writing assignment By Wednesday, read: • Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History 5th edition (New York: Pearson Education, 2005), pp. 32-40, 46-51, “Questioning Sources” and “Evaluating Materials.” HSCI 1214W only: also pp. 110-118, “Writing and Revising Drafts” • John P. Jackson, Jr. and Nadine M. Weidman, Race, Racism and Science: social impact and interaction (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), pp. 35-57. • Robert Shapiro, “A Simpler Origin for Life,” Scientific American June 2007, Vol. 296, Issue 6, pp. 46-53. WEEK THREE: FEBRUARY 5 & 7 FIRST QUIZ GIVEN DURING DISCUSSION SECTION THIS WEEK, over all of the material in the course to this point. Please visit the website for quiz preparation guidelines. In the late 1700s (aka the eighteenth century), fossilized remains of ancient plants and animals were found. Natural philosophers were trying to understand the changes in plant and animal species over time—and the fossils provided direct evidence. For the next two weeks, we explore some theories about how life on earth changed over time. Tuesday: Explaining the Fossil Record and the Cambrian Explosion Thursday: Natural Theology; Analyzing Humboldt and Lyell Discussion section: HSCI 1212: Historical narratives on human responsibility for the environment; Quiz 1 HSCI1214W: above plus first draft of first critical essay due (but NO quiz) By Wednesday, read: • Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History 5th edition (New York: Pearson Education, 2005), pp. 58-74, “Narrative” and “Exposition/Analysis” • Early Modern/Modern Theories: The Fossil Record o Alexander von Humboldt, Aspects of Nature, in Different Lands and Different Climates; with Scientific Elucidations, trans. by Mrs. Sabine (Philadelphia, 1850), pp. 227-246. o Charles Lyell, The Principles of Geology vol II (London 1831), pp. 66-68, 70-72, 88, 143-56. • Natural Theology (19th century) o Peter J. Bowler, Evolution: The History of an Idea (University of California, 2003), pp. 35-44 o William Paley, Natural Theology (1830), pp. 8-17, 31-34, 44-52. WEEK FOUR: FEBRUARY 12 & 14 Humans have tried to create order within the natural world for millennia. Where did “genus” and “species” come from? Why was it so important to classify life on earth and to put it into an orderly scheme? Who decided how to classify living things, and where did humans fit into it? What were the social ramifications of these efforts to bring order to nature? Tuesday: Linnaean System of Classification Thursday: Classification and Systematics Discussion section: HSCI 1212: How classification systems set up ‘ecological thinking’; Discuss analytical essay writing assignment on Linnaeus HSCI 1214W: the above, but discuss first critical essay drafts By Thursday, read: • Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History 5th edition (New York: Pearson Education, 2005), pp. 89-98, “Primary and Secondary Sources.” • Linnaeus and “On the Police of Nature” o CD Wilcke [Linnaeus], “On the Police of Nature,” in Select Dissertations from the Amoenitates Academicae, tr. FJ Brand (London, 1781), excerpts, pp. 129-130, 141-150, 164-166. o Lisbet Koerner, “Carl Linnaeus in his time and place,” in Nicholas Jardine et al, Culture and Natural History (Cambridge University Press), pp. 145-162. WEEK FIVE: FEBRUARY 19 & 21 One of the problems faced by natural historians in the nineteenth century was how to explain the fact that fossils showed large numbers of plants and animals that were no longer present on the earth. What had caused these mass extinctions? Tuesday: Explosions and Extinctions Thursday: The Holocene Extinction Event: introduction Discussion section: HSCI 1212: Human versus non-human causes of past extinction events (small group discussion) HSCI 1214W: the above, plus first critical essay due, final. By Thursday, read: o Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History 5th edition (New York: Pearson Education, 2005), pp. 110-118, “Organizing your Essay” & “Writing Drafts” (HSCI 1214W, exempt because you have already read this) o Explaining extinction o Stephen Jay Gould, Ever Since Darwin (New York: W.W. Norton, 1977), Chs. 14 & 15, pp. 119-133. o Charles Lyell, The Principles of Geology, vol 3 (1833), pp. 31-34. WEEK SIX: FEB 26 & FEB 28 You have all heard of Darwin and Wallace’s theory of evolution. But where did these ideas come from? Why did this theory become so controversial, and so popular? Considering the ideas of Thomas Malthus, which influenced Darwin and Wallace greatly, how are human populations already being recognized (in the late 1700s) as an important cause of environmental problems? Tuesday: Malthus and the human population; Imperialism & environmental devastation in the late eighteenth century Thursday: Darwin, Wallace and the theory of evolution through natural selection Discussion section: HSCI 1212: Population demographics and historical arguments (group activity) HSCI 1214W: the above, plus discussion of critical essays By Wednesday, read: • Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History 5th edition (New York: Pearson Education, 2005), pp. 154-161, “Evidence and Quotations” • Thomas Malthus, An Essay on the Principles of Population (London: J. Johnson, 1798), excerpts (online source) • Richard Grove, “The Origins of Environmentalism,” Nature, May 3, 1990: 1123-7. • Theory of evolution through natural selection o David Quammen, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin (New York: Norton, 2006), pp. 190-204. o Charles Darwin, excerpts from On the Origin of Species (1859), Ch 9 (online source). WEEK SEVEN: MARCH 4 & 6 How did living things influence each other? What were the patterns that held living communities together? Modern ecology has been the scientific basis of most of the twentieth century’s conservation and environmental policies. Yet this science had a somewhat difficult birth from its antecedent, natural history, in the nineteenth century. What were the ideas from which ecology came, and how did early ecology inform policy (or not)? Tuesday: Ecological ideas and theories: history and science Thursday: Review for midterm exam (midterm covers material through Tuesday’s lecture, including this week’s reading) Discussion section: HSCI 1212: How historians have analyzed Forbes’ “Lake as Microcosm” HSCI 1214W: the above, plus hand out assignment for critical essay #2 By Wednesday, read: • Stephen Forbes, “The Lake as Microcosm,” Bulletin of the Peoria Scientific Association 87 (1887): 77-87 Available online at: http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/biogeog/FORB1887.htm WEEK EIGHT: MARCH 11 & 13: MIDTERM EXAM TUESDAY. THIS EXAM COVERS ALL MATERIALS THROUGH MARCH 4. On Thursday, we discuss the early twentieth century conservation movement. How did these events set up some of the differences between “conservation” and “environmentalism”? How does Theodore Roosevelt define “conservation,” and what are the practical consequences he expects from conservation for the state, present and future citizens, and the environment? Tuesday: MIDTERM, in class Thursday: Conservation in the early twentieth century Discussion section: HSCI 1212: Interpreting conservation within Progressive history (U.S.): critical perspectives HSCI 1214W: the above By Thursday, read: • Theodore Roosevelt, “Conservation,” in T. Roosevelt, The New Nationalism, W.E. Leuchtenburg, ed. (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1961), pp. 49-76. Spring Break: No Class on March 18 & 20 WEEK NINE: MARCH 25 & 27 Between the 1920s and 1960s, ecology matured as a discipline. How did ecological ideas change over time, and can you see policy implications of these changes? Historian Sharon Kingsland has characterized ecology at mid-century as a “subversive” science, meaning that ecologists tried to ensure environmental protection even as scientists enabled ever-increasing human use of environmental resources. Do you agree? Tuesday: From “succession” to “ecosystems” Thursday: Models and energetics in ecology Discussion section: HSCI 1212: Kingsland: Was ecology a “subversive” science? HSCI 1214W: the above, first draft of critical essay #2 due in section By Wednesday, read: • Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History 5th edition (New York: Pearson Education, 2005), pp. XXX • Ecosystem Theory o Sharon Kingsland, “Defining Ecology as a Science,” in L.A. Real and J.H. Brown, Foundations in Ecology (University of Chicago Press, 1991), pp. 1-13 o Eugene P. Odum (1967), “The Strategy of Ecosystem Development,” reprinted in L.A. Real and J.H. Brown, Foundations of Ecology, pp. 596-604. WEEK TEN: APRIL 1 & 3 Obviously, life on earth has included and been heavily influenced by populations of humans. We begin this week to consider some case studies of human interactions with other living things, using the ecosystem model that we discussed last week. How have patterns of biotic (living) and abiotic (climatological) change greatly affected the development of human populations? Tuesday: The Guns, Germs and Steel hypothesis (video, slides, discussion) Thursday: ENSO affect on 19th-century human populations Discussion section: HSCI 1212: Biological determinism: a critical analysis HSCI 1214W: the above, plus discussion of critical essay #2 By Wednesday, read: o Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History 5th edition (New York: Pearson Education, 2005), pp. XXX o The Consequences of Human Interaction With Nature o Jared Diamond, Guns Germs and Steel (W.W. Norton, 1999), Chapter 11. o Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts (Verso, 2001), Chapter 9, “The Origins of the Third World” WEEK ELEVEN: APRIL 8 & 10 THIS WEEK YOU WILL HAVE YOUR SECOND QUIZ IN DISCUSSION SECTION. IT COVERS MATERIAL FROM MARCH 4 THROUGH APRIL 3. In 1968, Paul Ehrlich predicted that the world would suffer inevitable famines in the 1980s because human populations would outstrip our ability to grow food. By and large, this did not happen; but Ehrlich’s book sparked a great deal of debate. On what did Ehrlich base his predictions? How have historians evaluated the role of Ehrlich’s book in supporting the environmental movement? Why didn’t Ehrlich’s predictions come to pass? Tuesday: From Malthus to the Population Bomb Thursday: Norman Borlaug and the Green Revolution. Solutions: from population regulation to dematerialization Discussion section: HSCI 1212: Second in-class quiz; group exercise: What’s your carbon footprint? HSCI 1214W: the above, but NO quiz. Instead, critical essay #2, final, is due in section. By Wednesday, read: o Paul Ehrlich, “The Population Bomb” (1968), in Matthew Alan Cahn and Rory O’Brien, eds., Thinking About the Environment: Readings on Politics, Property and the Physical World (M.E. Sharpe, 1996). o Norman Borlaug, [need a more accessible freshman-level reading here] WEEK TWELVE: APRIL 15 & 17 This week we will consider how human populations have affected other living things in a particular ecosystem: the North American plains. During the 1930s (and later during the 1950s), the plains environment underwent major changes including the redistribution of soil, climatic disruptions, and resultant redistributions of plants, animals, and humans. What caused the “Dust Bowl”? How did human responses to the Dust Bowl affect the plains, both in the short term and in the long run? Tuesday: What caused the Dust Bowl? (including excerpts from the film “The Plow that Broke the Plains”) Thursday: Solutions: debating soil conservation principles and practices (1930s and today) Discussion section: HSCI 1212: Understanding and critiquing the “desertification” argument HSCI 1214W: the above, plus graded essays returned & discussion By Wednesday, read: o Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History 5th edition (New York: Pearson Education, 2005), pp. XXX o The Dust Bowl and Soil Conservation o Paul B. Sears, Deserts on the March (Norman: Univ of Oklahoma Press, 1935), pp. 81-92, 119-131. o H.H. Finnell, “Conservation Pays Off in the Plains Country,” Soil Conservation 8 (July 1942): 4-10. o Donald Worster, Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979), Ch. 14, “Make Two Blades of Grass Grow,” pp. 210-230. WEEK THIRTEEN: APRIL 22 & 24 Rachel Carson’s book was one of the triggers that sparked concern about our damaged environment in the 1960s. Silent Spring was very controversial when first published, but very influential in stimulating public opinion. The St Paul campus of the University is located in the town of Falcon Heights, but by the 1960s there were no falcons left here (why?). Click on the link below to see what two states, Minnesota and New Jersey, have done to bring falcons back into their native habitats. Tuesday: DDT: from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring to malaria control Thursday: Peregrine falcon repatriation Discussion section: HSCI 1212: In-class debate: should DDT be banned? HSCI 1214W: the above, plus critical essay #3 assignment handed out By Wednesday, read: o Environmental remediation of agricultural and industrial damage DDT and Peregrine Falcons o Rachel Carson, excerpts from Silent Spring (Houghton Mifflin, 1962), pp. 15-27, 42-61, 245-261. ADD all of Ch 1 for the dramatic aspects of the book. o State of New Jersey, Department of Wildlife: “The Peregrine Falcon”; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, “Peregrine Falcon (Falco Peregrinus)” [click on this title to be linked to this site] WEEK FOURTEEN: APRIL 29 & MAY 1 What was it like to live through the bubonic plague, which killed approximately one-third of Europe’s population in the 14th century and returned often? How did citizens explain the plague, and what did they do to try to prevent it and lessen its severity? Where did diseases like the plague come from? What larger social effects have they had? Tuesday: The Black Death Thursday: Ecology of plague and the 3rd pandemic: responses Discussion section: HSCI 1212: In-class quiz/group activity: prairie dogs as plague reservoirs HSCI 1214W: the above, plus critical essay #3, final, due in section. By Wednesday, read: o Explaining Mass Human Death, Part 1 o James S. Amelang, ed, A Journal of the Plague Year: the Diary of the Barcelona Tanner Miquel Parets, 1651 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), 58-71, 77-79. o E. Fuller Torrey and Robert H. Yolken, Beasts of the Earth: Animals, Humans, and Disease (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2005), pp. 139-144. o Howard Markel, When Germs Travel (New York: Pantheon, 2004), Chapter 2 “San Francisco and the Plague in Chinatown” WEEK FIFTEEN: MAY 6 & 8 Finally, we consider a modern “plague”: influenza type A. What were the effects of the 1918 influenza pandemic? How did scientists try to explain, prevent, and deal with it? Could it happen again, and how can ecological ideas guide our responses if it does? Tuesday: Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases: Influenza Thursday: Conclusions and Review for final examination Discussion section: HSCI 1212: Historical memory and the 1918 pandemic HSCI 1214W: the above By Tuesday, read: o Explaining Mass Human Death, Part 2 o Alfred Crosby, America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 (Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 3-13, 17-41. o Mike Davis, The Monster at our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu (New York: Pantheon, 2005), pp. 3-30, 151-163. TAKE-HOME FINAL ESSAY EXAMINATION IS DUE THURSDAY MAY 15 BY 2:00 PM. TURN IN YOUR EXAM TO THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE OFFICE, PILLSBURY HALL ROOM 220, TO BARBARA EASTWOLD. No late exams will be accepted, and no grades of “incomplete” will be awarded unless under very unusual circumstances. [University standard statements here] ****************************** Student learning outcomes statement HSCI 1212/1214W works with students to help them master the historical mode of inquiry and a body of environmental and scientific knowledge. Students learn about how historians do their work through readings on such topics as “Writing History as a Way of Thinking” and “Primary and Secondary Sources.” They then apply these techniques in a historical analysis assignment on an eighteenth-century primary source and several essays on examinations. Lectures stress the different cultural, social, and intellectual contexts that we can apply to the many primary sources we read in this course, and in-class exercises ask the students to evaluate statements made by historical actors critically. Finally, students compare different historians’ explanations of past events and debate the fit between the evidence and the historical analyses. This methodology is applied to a comprehensive set of case studies on environmental issues within the context of changing ideas about the relationship between humans and nature. These case studies include the Holocene extinction event; ENSO effects and famines; Malthus, Ehrlich and the “population bomb” thesis, Borlaug and the “green revolution,” population regulation and dematerialization; soil conservation and other responses to the Dust Bowl; DDT (Silent Spring) and peregrine falcon repatriation in the Twin Cities area; and ecology of disease and responding to pandemics. In class, the students will calculate their own carbon footprint and design repatriation procedures for peregrine falcon populations. Through a series of readings, discussions, and lectures, students will learn the ecological science (following nutrients and energy through an ecosystem) that provides the foundations for potential solutions to environmental problems. By studying ecological science in historical perspective, students appreciate the variety of ecological ideas used over time, their applications to environmental problems, and the outcomes within the sociocultural value system of the time. Old: <no text provided> |