Western Civilization and the Environment

Lecture and Reading Schedule

Spring 2013

Mondays / Fridays 1:50 – 2:45 ~ 321 Bray

Wednesdays 2:55 – 3:50 ~ 321 Bray

Lecture Objectives

Please note: this schedule is subject to change

Session	Topic	Readings
Monday 1-14, 2013	Introduction
Wednesday, 1-16	Defining Western Civilization & Introduction to Guns, Germs, and Steel	Diamond: Preface, Prologue, Ch 1
Friday, 1-18	Collision of Cultures	Diamond: Ch 2, 3
Monday, 1-21 Last day to add is Tuesday, 1-22	No Classes, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day	suggestion: read ahead in Diamond text (see Friday 1-25)
Wednesday, 1-23	Guns, Germs, Steel video National Geographic/PBS Documentary, Episode 2: Conquest	suggestion: catch up with Diamond text Transcript from PBS this is not required reading, but it may help with note-taking suggestion: start reading ahead in Diamond to prepare for the 1-31 class
Friday, 1-25	Food Production	Diamond: Ch 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Monday, 1-28	Animals, Axes, & Germs	Diamond: Ch 9, 10, 11
Wednesday, 1-30	Guns, Germs, Steel video Episode 1- Out of Eden	suggestion: catch up with Diamond text Transcript from PBS this is not required reading, but it may help with note-taking
Friday, 2-1	Exercise & Discussion 1 video versus text
Monday, 2-4	Writing & Technology	Diamond: Ch 12, 13
Wednesday, 2-6	Government & Religion	Diamond: Ch 14
Friday, 2-8 Last day to drop is Friday 2-8	Class cancelled Poster Project Administration Day ** Very Important Class Session**	suggestion: start reading the Blaut text
Monday, 2-11	Class cancelled Guns, Germs, Steel video Episode 3: Into the Tropics	suggestions: start research for project memo start reading the Blaut text
Wednesday, 2-13	Poster Project Administration Day ** Very Important Class Session** Exercise & Discussion 2 Strongest/Weakest Chapter	suggestions: start research for project memo start reading the Blaut text
Friday, 2-15	Historiography and A Critique of Diffusionism	Blaut: 1; Blaut online review of Diamond Blaut, J. M. 1999. “Environmentalism and Eurocentrism: A Review Essay.” Geographical Review 89, 3 : 391-408.
Monday, 2-18	The Myth of the European Miracle	Blaut: 2
Wednesday, 2-20	Blaut's Theory of the Rise of the West	Blaut: 3, 4, 5
Friday, 2-22	Exercise & Discussion 3 Critique / Comparison of Diamond & Blaut
Monday, 2-25	Contingency Session
Wednesday, 2-27 project memo due (EX1-NRAH-204)	Review
Friday, 3-1	First Exam
Monday, 3-4	Civilizations and Natural Resources: Easter Island, Mesopotamia, Rome	Hughes, JD. 2003. "Easter Island: Model for Environmental History?" Capitalism, Nature, Socialism 14(2): pp. 77-83. pdf file Floyd, DW, Vonhof SL, Seyfang, HE. 2001. "Forest Sustainability: A Discussion Guide for Professional Resource Managers." Journal of Forestry 99(2): pp. 8-16. Ingenta connect database
Wednesday, 3-6	Civilizations and Natural Resources: Easter Island, Mesopotamia, Rome Intro to Exercise & Discussion 4 - Concept Map	Charles, Dan. 2012. “Farmers Face Tough Choices on Ways to Fight Weeds.” National Public Radio. Morning Edition, March 11. Davidson, Adam. 2012. “Meet Claudia, the High Tech Cow.” National Public Radio. Morning Edition, March 19.
Friday, 3-8	Exercise & Discussion 4 – Concept Map
Monday, 3-11 to Friday 3-15	No Classes, Enjoy Spring Break
Monday, 3-18 deadline to sign up for reviewmeetings	Poster Project Q & A Planning & Discussion
Wednesday, 3-20	due date and exercise postponed until Friday
Friday, 3-22 draft posters due	Draft Poster Peer Review Exercise & Discussion (substitute for #2)
Monday, 3-25	Knowledge: The Greek Legacy	Thanos, CA. 1994. "Aristotle and Theophrastus on plant-animal interactions." Chapter 1 in Plant-Animal Interactions in Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems. Netherlands: Khwer Academic Publishers. pp. 3-11. pdf file Hughes, JD. 1985. "Theophrastus as Ecologist." Environmental Review 9(4): pp. 296-306. JSTOR database
Wednesday, 3-27	Christianity and the Western World View	White L. "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis." 1967. Science 155(3767): pp. 1203-1207. JSTOR database
Friday, 3-29 Good Friday	Environmental Ethics Continuum Exercise & Discussion 5
Monday, 4-1	Medieval Times: Feudalism, Magna Carta & the Black Death	Domesday Book Young, Cr. 1978. "Conservation Policies in the Royal Forests of Medieval England." Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies 10(2): 95-103. JSTOR database Birrell. J. 1992. "Deer and Deer Farming in Medieval England." Agricultural History Review 40 (2): 112-126. pdf file
Wednesday, 4-3	"Rousseau's Revenge"	Bromley, DW. 1998. "Rousseau's Revenge: The Demise of the Freehold Estate." In Who Owns America? Social Conflict Over Property Rights. Ed. H. M. Jacobs. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 19-28. (copies of this reading are available outside Dr. Vonhof's office)
Friday, 4-5	Exercise & Discussion 6 social ownership	be sure you've read Bromley's essay (see above)
Monday, 4-8	The "Rise" of the West: The Umbrella of the Renaissance	Machiavelli Vasari on Leonardo da Vinci
Wednesday, 4-10	Reformation	Luther's 95 Theses Weber Protestant Ethic, Ch V
Friday, 4-12	Wars of the Roses & other Middle-Evils, Guest Lecture, Eric Stevens
Monday, 4-1 5	Scientific Revolution(s): the Cosmos and the Natural World	Kuhn, Thomas S. 2009. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. http://www.brittanica.com/EBchecked/topic/324460/Thomas-S-Kuhn Copernicus Newton
Wednesday,4-17	Scientific Revolution(s): the Cosmos and the Natural World
Friday, 4-19	Enlightenment	Rousseau, Social Contract Locke, Two Treatises
Monday, 4-22	Review Session Kim & Erica
Wednesday, 4-24	Review Session
Friday, 4-26	Review Session
Monday, 4-29	Cumulative Exam