What Is Nature?
HIST 155
Spring 2016
| Section:
01
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This course explores the ideas and realities of nature through the lenses of history and biology. One of the English language's most complex words, "nature" carries an enormous amount of historical and cultural baggage, has many meanings and senses, constitutes the ostensible object of study of the sciences, is intertwined with the histories of human culture and artifice, is at the heart of political debates about resource use and economic development, and so much more. In readings, conversations, observation activities, film nights, field trips, and written work, we will examine both the concept and the physicality of nature by approaching it from the perspectives of history and the natural sciences. We will consider such questions as: What exactly is and isn't nature? Who studies nature and how? Are humans part of nature? Who decides what is "natural"? Is "natural" good? Does nature have inherent value? How have humans thought about and interacted with nature through time? |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Possible readings include selections from
Graham, Parker, and Dayton, THE ESSENTIAL NATURALIST
Leopold, A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC
Cronon, UNCOMMON GROUND
Price, FLIGHT MAPS
Kolbert, THE SIXTH EXTINCTION
probably assembled in a course reader.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Students will produce brief compositions on a weekly basis that address the thematic question of the week through the assigned readings. Other possible assignments include a short paper on some kind of representation or use of "nature" students encounter in their everyday lives; a brief research paper on the history of some aspect of nature; or a report based on personal natural history observation and some library research. The final project of the course will be for each students to offer a longer written contemplation on an aspect of the class's big question: What is nature? |
| Instructor(s): Williams,Amrys O. Singer,Michael Times: ..T.R.. 02:40PM-04:00PM; Location: FISK116; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 25 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 0 | | |
| Seats Available: 7 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 0 | JR non-major: 0 | SO: 25 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 2 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 2 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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