91探花

Syllabus

Graduate Colloquium in Environmental History
Spring 2023: Tuesday, 6:00-9:00 p.m., Class No. 9008
Ellis Hall 108

Instructor: Professor Paul Milazzo
Office: 449 Bentley Annex
Email: milazzo@ohio.edu
Office Hours: By appointment

Course Overview and Objectives

This course serves as an introduction to the burgeoning discipline of environmental history. It surveys some of the more recent and interesting works in that field, and seeks to equip students with the knowledge and skills to

1. Navigate the discipline鈥檚 basic historiography 
2. Think critically about the reciprocal historical relationship between humans and the natural environment 
3. Reinterpret and re-periodize American history through an environmental lens
4. Trace the evolution of environmental politics and policy from the nineteenth century to the close of the twentieth 
5. Construct a syllabus in environmental history suitable for an undergraduate course.

Reading and Technology

Books

Consult the course schedule below for the books assigned in this class. They can be procured most cost-effectively via Amazon.com. If you choose to use OhioLINK at Alden Library, be sure to allow sufficient time for delivery. Students are responsible for having the books in hand when they are needed.

Blackboard

Additional materials for weekly assignments/class discussions can be found on Blackboard. Anyone who is officially registered for this course can log into the site using your Ohio ID and password. You will find course content organized by week in a folder labeled, not coincidently, 鈥淐ourse Content.鈥�

Additional readings for the class have been provided as .pdf files for easy reading, downloading, or printing. They are denoted on the course schedule with an asterisk (*).

Students must have their 91探花 email accounts activated and must have access to Blackboard in order to complete this course successfully. It is your responsibility to attend to these details.

Course Requirements and Grading

Students are required to attend all weekly sessions, complete all of the assigned reading, and discuss/debate it with intelligence and civility. It is worth reiterating that the quality of the discussion will depend on the participants鈥� level of preparation and commitment; in short, you will get out of this class what you put into it.

Twice during the semester, students will write papers (minimum length: seven pages) summarizing and analyzing the reading for the week. Students will choose the readings they prefer to write on as follows: one selection from weeks two through seven, and a second selection from weeks eight through fourteen.

Those writing essays for a given week will also have a role leading class discussion. Sign up options are available here. The paper should be uploaded to Blackboard prior to class. In addition, at the conclusion of the class all students will complete a syllabus for an upper division undergraduate environmental history course (non-history graduate students will complete an alternative project in consultation with the instructor.)

We will discuss these course requirements in more detail during the initial class meeting. Your grade will be based on the quality of your papers (40%), your syllabus (30%), and your participation in and facilitation of class discussion (30%).

Academic Accommodations

If you require special accommodations for assignments or other elements of this course, please consult with Accessibility Services and provide me with a faculty notification letter detailing your specific needs as soon as possible. I will do all that I can to assist you.

Academic Dishonesty

Students in this class will be held to those standards outlined in the 91探花 Student Code of Conduct defining 鈥渁cademic dishonesty.鈥� Academic dishonesty will result in the grade of 鈥淔鈥� for the assignment and referral to the Office of Community Standards. Harsher penalties can accrue in proportion to the egregiousness of the violation.

Course Schedule