Environmental History of North America

Environmental History of North America is a 4-credit course that takes a broad geographic and temporal approach to examine the complex relationships that humans have with their surroundings and how they have changed and continue to change over time. Beginning with Indigenous communities and nations in the western hemisphere, students will explore how diverse societies both shaped and were shaped by their surroundings, the social and environmental disruptions of European colonization, and how Indigenous Peoples have and continue to navigate these upheavals as sovereign tribes/nations. Students will analyze the role that technological developments in transportation, manufacturing, agricultural production, and resource extraction in coordination with neoliberal policies and the expansion of global markets have played in shaping today’s world.