Syllabus WORLD FOREST HISTORY Forest/ Envir/History 452 This seminar for graduate students and seniors will explore the shared history of people and forests around the world, paying special attention to the ways history can help us understand current environmental issues. We will examine how and why forests have changed over time, how different peoples have used or abused the forest, how societies have struggled to establish policies governing forests, and how perceptions of forests have evolved. With its attention to the changing relationships between nature, culture, and production, forest history offers a powerful tool for understanding human effects on the forest. Topics for discussion will include: * How and why have forests changed? How have those changes affected wildlife and people? * Who has historically had access to forests? Who has been denied access, and why? How did access change with the development of forest industries, federal forestry programs, and environmental protections? * Whose meanings of the forest have defined the use of the forests? * How have societal conflicts shaped the ways scientific research has been translated into forest policy? What have been the effects on the forests and people? *What can forest history contribute to environmental policy? CLASS FORMAT The first hour of each seminar meeting will consist of a lecture and discussion introducing the historic context of the reading. After a brief break, two students will spend 10-15 minutes discussing the critical questions the week's readings raised for you, and then leading a discussion. Ideally, you will summarize for all of us the perspective from which you approached the readings, then follow with your assessment of the authors' work. Attendance policy. Discussions will only work if everyone makes a good faith effort to keep up with the readings and comes to class on time and ready to talk. Attendance is required; each unexcused absence will take half a grade off your final course grade (ie, two absences would drop you from an AB to a B). If you know you're going to have an unavoidable conflict with a class meeting (for example, because of a field trip for another class or a job interview), please let me know as soon as possible. If you miss class because of illness or an unavoidable conflict, you can make up the missed credit by turning in an extra 2 page essay on any aspect of the reading. This essay will be due no later two class meetings after your missed meeting. THE READINGS You have a lot of reading to do over the semester, and some of you may find the amount daunting. We’ll talk in class about different strategies for reading books and journal articles. You will not be required to read every book in its entirety, so make sure you check your emails and the course website for the specific pages to focus on each week. The important thing to remember is that will not be reading to memorize specific names, dates, events, scientific phenomena, and so on. You won't be tested on details. Instead, I want you to absorb ideas, to identify themes and debates, to look critically at the evidence, to explore various methodologies, and to consider the implications of any given book or article. Some of the readings have direct hotlinks below. Other links (for copyright protected material) will take you to a "mywebspace" folder for the class, where you will need to sign in with your UW netid account to access the scanned readings. Copyright laws allow "fair use" of this material, which typically allows you to make a single copy for your own use. READING JOURNAL You will be expected to keep a journal on the course readings. One to two pages of TYPED writing on each week’s readings is sufficient. Aim for 500 words (2 doubled spaced pages) per week. Please date each entry. Three times during the course of the semester I will collect and review these journals, but you should write each week. I will email potential questions for your journal entries, but you may also write on any specific topic of your choice. I encourage graduate students to focus their reading journals on the tools, methodologies, questions, and approaches that have the greatest potential for each student’s own research. Your journal may contain your own reading notes and ideas about the works we read, questions for future research that arise from your reading, and responses to questions and suggestions I post on the webpage: http://sites.google.com/site/forest452/ Writing about what you've read has several benefits: it enables you to remember what you've read; it helps you make connections and ask questions of your own; it raises questions you might not otherwise think about; it helps you engage with a community of scholarship; and it improves the quality of class discussion. Reading journals are a key component of your intellectual development. Most scholars refer back to them often throughout their careers. You'll have a much better chance of enjoying and succeeding with your journal if you get into the habit of working on it regularly. In many ways, your journal entries should be the easiest and most enjoyable part of the course, especially if you avoid falling behind and having to cram all your entries in right before the dates I collect them. FIELD TRIP Saturday April 18th, required, from 8 am until 6 pm, cost $10 or so. RESEARCH PAPER Undergraduates will write a 10 page forest history, while graduate students will write a 15 to 20 page research paper. We will discuss these assignments in class. GRADES Discussion participation: 40% Journal: 20% Research Paper: 40% Books: all are required, and all are available on 3 hour reserve at Steenbock. Robert Pogue Harrison, Forests: The Shadow of Civilization (U of Chicago Press, 1993, paper edition). Nancy Langston, Forest Dreams, Forest Nightmares: The Paradox of Old Growth in the Inland West (U. of Washington Press, 1995, paper edition). Michael Williams, Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis. An Abridgement (make sure you buy the abridged paperback version!) (U of Chicago Press 2006). Warren Dean, With Broadax and Firebrand: The Destruction of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Univ. of California Press, paperback edition 1997) Ramachandra Guha, The Unquiet Woods (U of California Press, 2000, expanded paperback edition) James C Scott, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, (Yale UP 1999) SCHEDULE and READINGS LINKS: click here |