Large volcanic eruptions have left their mark on human history, and some volcanoes have reached iconic status just by their presence (think Mt. Fuji). Volcanoes have provided inspiration for paintings and books (e.g., COTOPAXI by Frank Church, THE VOLCANO LOVER by Susan Sontag) and have provided myths and legends on dark forces of nature as well as real-life dramas. Most recently, the Icelandic Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010 paralyzed European airspace with an estimated damage to the airline industry of $1.7 billion. Volcanoes thus are a prime example of liberal arts connectivity--science, history, art, and economics, to mention a few. The course covers some of the basics of volcanology (where, what, and when) and discuss examples of famous eruptions throughout history and their impact on life (which includes climatic impacts). These volcanic events also provide a window into history that allows us to peek back at what was happening then (e.g., Pompeii). Students would either write about a given volcano and its most famous eruption (e.g., Vesuvius, Mount Saint Helens, Hawaii), about a volcanic process (ash fall, toxic gases), or about literary/art aspects (volcano paintings of the Hudson school, famous books on volcanoes). The book written by our own Jelle deBoer and Tom Sanders: VOLCANOES IN HUMAN HISTORY: THE FAR-REACHING EFFECTS OF MAJOR ERUPTIONS will be used as the text. |