History of the
Environment of the United States Section 1, Spring 2016
Instructor: Prof. Pamela E. Mack
Contact information:
Class meetings MWF 11:15 am in Hardin 232
Office: Hardin 006
Office Hours: MWF 8-9, 10-11, immediately after
class and by appointment
Email: pammack@clemson.edu
(I try to respond to emails within 24 hours on class days)
preferred form of address: Prof. Mack or Dr.
Mack
This course will use Canvas rather than Blackboard.
Log in to Canvas at: https://clemson.instructure.com,
using your entire Clemson email address (without the g) as
your username. It will not work if you use just your
Clemson username! The course number is 411.
If you have difficulty getting into Canvas please email
details to Prof. Mack and she will pass your problem on to the
people who can fix it.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is a sampling of American
environmental history from colonial times to the present. The
goal of the course is to think about the interaction between
humans and the natural environment with the help of the broader
perspective that history provides. To that end, the course will
focus on different approaches to environmental history and
discuss in detail selected case studies.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the course students
should be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding of issues created by the
complex interactions of humans with the natural environment
examine the role of the natural environment in history
evaluate the impact of science and technology on society
and how society shapes science and technology
analyze the different approaches taken by historians
write analytically on topics related to these objectives
GENERAL EDUCATION:
This course meets the STS general education requirement:
Science and Technology in
Society: Demonstrate an
understanding of issues created by the complex interactions
among science, technology, and society.
One of the papers you write for this course is
your STS artifact. While students are no longer required to
upload artifacts to an ePortfolio, the university will be
collecting artifacts from general education courses to evaluate
general education.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Analyzing and drawing conclusions from
the reading will be central to the course, so it is essential
that you do the reading and come prepared to discuss it in
class. Attendance will be taken by seating chart and six
absences will be allowed without penalty. Coming late or leaving
early will count as one half an absence. Excuses do not have to
be given for the six allowed absences, but it is expected that
these will cover scheduled events (including
extracurricular activities in most cases) and minor illnesses.
Additional absences will be excused for official university
activities, emergencies, serious illness, or funerals, but
documentation must be provided, the student notification of
instructor process is not sufficient. Students with more
than six absences will be penalized 5 points for each additional
absence, to be deducted from their participation grade. The
class is excused if the instructor does not arrive within 10
minutes of the scheduled starting time.
two 4-5 page reflection papers: 100 points each
midterm: 100 points
participation: no more than 100 points from the
categories below
class discussion (20 points)
reading responses (at least 70 points available)
other participation assignments (at least 30 points
available)
takehome final exam: 100 points
Total points will be divided by 500 to give a numerical grade
out of 100, which will be converted to final letter grades by the
system 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-79=C, 60-69=D, below 60=F.
Grades will be calculated by the method above; anything Canvas
tells you about your number of points being "out of" some number
can be assumed to be wrong. Grades above 95 our of 100 are rarely
given except for exceptionally fine work.
PARTICIPATION ASSIGNMENTS: You can earn points for
participation assignments in a variety of ways. These include:
short reflections on the reading due by 9 am each class
day (2 points each, found in Canvas)
other participation: these are reflections on a lecture,
film or outside reading (5 points each, found in Canvas)
participation in class discussion (up to 20 points total)
You may earn up to a maximum of 100 points by any combination
of these. Late assignments will not be accepted without a
doctor's or university excuse. There will be at least 120
possible points, probably more. Excessive absences will be
deducted from this grade (at the rate of 5 points for each absence
over 6), so you can partially make up for absences by doing the
reading reflection even if you are not going to be in class.
PAPER: The details of the paper assignments are found Canvas and
in and in these general
paper instructions. Papers uploaded to Blackboard by
the beginning of class are on time. Papers handed in later
that day get a 2 point penalty for lateness. Each calendar
day after that is an additional 2 point penalty for lateness.
ACCOMODATIONS: The instructor is happy to honor disability
letters. Students with disabilities requesting
accommodations should make an appointment with Dr. Margaret Camp
(656-6848), Director of Disability Services, to discuss specific
needs within the first month of classes. Students should present a
Faculty Accommodation Letter from Student Disability Services when
they meet with instructors. Accommodations are not retroactive and
new Faculty Accommodation Letters must be presented each semester.
SEXUAL HARRASSMENT: Clemson University is committed to a policy of
equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the
basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender,
pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, veteran’s status,
genetic information or protected activity in employment,
educational programs and activities, admissions and financial aid.
This includes a prohibition against sexual harassment and sexual
violence as mandated by Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972. This policy is located at
http://www.clemson.edu/campus-life/campus-services/access/title-ix/.
Mr. Jerry Knighton is the Clemson University Title IX Coordinator.
He also is the Director of Access and Equity. His office is
located at 110 Holtzendorff Hall, 864.656.3184 (voice) or
864.565.0899 (TDD).
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: As members of the Clemson
University community, we have inherited Thomas Green Clemson's
vision of this institution as a "high seminary of learning."
Fundamental to this vision is a mutual commitment to truthfulness,
honor, and responsibility, without which we cannot earn the trust
and respect of others. Furthermore, we recognize that
academic dishonesty detracts from the value of a Clemson
degree. Therefore, we shall not tolerate lying, cheating, or
stealing in any form.
This includes representing someone else's work as your own or
handing in the same paper to two different courses without
permission of the instructors. Be careful to avoid
plagiarism--text you take from a web site, from a book, or from
the online class notes must be either quoted with the source given
or restated almost entirely in your own words, with the source
given. Note that the catalog defines as one form of academic
dishonesty: "Plagiarism, which includes the intentional or
unintentional copying of language, structure, or ideas of another
and attributing the work to one’s own efforts." Note the
word unintentional--if you forget to put quote marks or a
reference you can be found guilty of academic dishonesty even if
it was not your intention to cheat.
It is cheating to cut and paste or otherwise copy portions
of a argument paper, exam, or discussion board posting from a
book, web site, or from the online class notes, even if you
change a few words, unless you quote and give the source.
It is poor writing for more than about 20% of your paper to
consist of quotes.
In most cases when you use specific material from any source
you should paraphrase: cite the source and put the ideas into you own
words (generally no more than 5 consecutive words
should match the source but if the words are mostly the same
it could still be plagiarism even if there aren't 5
consecutive words).
The catalog states: "When, in
the opinion of a course instructor, there is evidence that a
student has committed an act of academic dishonesty, that person
must make a formal written charge of academic dishonesty,
including a description of the misconduct, to the Associate Dean
of Undergraduate Studies. The reporting person may, at his/her
discretion, inform each involved student privately of the nature
of the alleged charge. In cases of plagiarism instructors may
use, as an option, the Plagiarism Resolution Form available from
the Office of Undergraduate Studies."
LAPTOPS AND CELL PHONES: You
are welcome to bring technology to the classroom as long as you
can handle it responsibly and respectfully. Use
of laptops, tablets and cell phones during class for purposes not
related to this course is disrespectful to the instructor and
distracting to other students. Do not carry on
conversations—either out loud or in electronic form—or do work for
another class or play games in class. You may
use your devices to take notes during class or to look up further
information on a topic being discussed. Students using their
devices during class may be called on to share what they are
learning with the rest of the class.
TEXTS: Four required books are available in the bookstore:
William Cronon,
Changes in the Land:
Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England (2003
edition)
Jennifer Price, Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern
America
Lawrence Earley, Looking for Longleaf: The
Rise and Fall of an American Forest
Adam
Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside
SCHEDULE: Readings are listed under each
lecture or discussion topic. Underlined lecture titles are
links that lead to notes.