ENVS279 - NATURE'S NATION:

The United States has been described as "nature's nation. The presence of enormous, resource-rich and sparsely settled continent has been a component of American identity, prosperity and pride--it has even been described as the source of the democratic political system. From the beginning, Americans transformed their natural environment, even as, over time, they grew to value environmental preservation and protection. This course traces the interaction of Americans and the natural world in, studying how Americans changes the natural environment over time, in order to understand why environmental change occurred and occurred in the manner it did. What have Americans believed about the nature of the nation's nature, and what attidues and policies have followed from these ideas? After surveying American environmental history from the 17th to the 20th century, we will examine specific topics and problems in the long relationship between Americans and their environment. (Possible topics: national parks and wilderness preservation, environmental politics, chemical pollution, invasive species). This seminar fulfills the research requirement for the History major because students will complete a 20-page paperof original research.