HISTORY 5326 — SPRING 2025

Nature and History in America

Dr. Mark Stoll

HUM 454 mark.stoll@ttu.edu https://www.markstoll.net
Office hours:
Monday 2:00–4:00, Wednesday 12:00–1:00 a.m., and by appointment

Course Description

Environmental history is one of the more recent fields in history and, since the 1970s, has been the world’s fastest growing. This graduate course introduces students to significant scholarship in American environmental history, from the pre-colonial era to the present. We will meet for weekly discussions, focusing on historical interpretations, themes, and conceptualizations, with special attention to sources, argumentation, and methods employed in research and exposition. By the end of the semester, students will have a solid foundation in the field.

Readings and Coursework

I have carefully selected readings to cover a significant recent theme in recent American environmental historiography. Everyone will read all assigned works with care and critical attention, coming to class ready to engage in active discussion. In reading, seek out the book’s key thesis (and be able to summarize it in a few sentences). Also, you should be alert to its structure and rhetoric, note the claims made for advances over previous studies (relationship to the literature), and sketch out the conceptual or theoretical apparatus employed (identifying keywords and the ways they are employed). Finally, you should assess the work’s evidentiary base, the scope and scale of the study within the context of the issues and events it addresses, and its relationship with other aspects of American history. Analysis of the book in this way prepares you for critical discussion and clear writing. Ideally you should each come to class with several questions written out for us to address as a group; I will have a sizable list of such questions as well, so we should have ample resources to work from.

Book reviews can aid the reading process. Look for them in such major journals as the Journal of American History, American Historical Review, Reviews in American History, and H-Net (Humanities Online), along with such specialized journals as Environmental History and Environment and History. You can access on-line indexes to journal articles at the library. These journals are available through the library Website.

Class Organization

The structure of the course centers on a core book each week, fourteen monographs in all. Each week we will spend the first two-thirds of our time (roughly 6:00-7:50) critically assessing it. Following a 10-minute break, one student will present a summary and critique of a second, supplementary work (20-25 minutes). Then we will close with comparative comments and thoughts on research initiatives this discussion has opened up.

We start on January 27 with introductions to each other and to the course. You will sign up for a second book then. This class will have a different structure thanks to Martin Luther King Day. Following the introduction, we will discuss the book by Dan Flores.


 

Writing

Weekly Notes

To promote discussions of substance, each student will write notes over the week’s reading (not required of the second book, however). These notes should cover important contents and points each week’s book makes, as well as many of the points mentioned above in connection with reading strategies. Aim to make them a useful resource for future reference for such purposes as papers or comprehensive exams.

Very importantly, add comments of your own as they occur to you during the reading. Set them off in some obvious manner (e.g., with an asterisk or in a different font, or in some other way). These comments can be of any sort of thing that occurs to you, such as comments, connections to other things you’ve read in this or other classes, disagreements with the author, or other thoughts that the text may inspire. Students will hand in a copy of their notes each week. Your notes are not a polished paper; rather, they demonstrate to me your engagement with the text. Also, the notes do not need to be extensive or many pages long to do the job.

Grading of the notes will be on the following basis:
A: Good, complete, useful notes, with comments
B: Good notes, but unsatisfactory or missing comments
C: Poor or incomplete notes

Papers

Students will write two analytical papers about books read together and presented to class. The papers will discuss selected books and bring out their themes, evidence, strengths, weaknesses, and so forth, and analyze ways they complement, conflict with, or advance over each other. The papers are due in class after Spring Break and in my office by 5:00 p.m. on the last day of finals.

Use 12-point Times Roman or Times New Roman, double-spaced, with 1" margins all around, with page numbers in the margin. Do not add extra space between paragraphs. If your word-processing program adds space automatically, adjust the Paragraph settings. Footnotes and bibliography are not required but, if used, must conform to Turabian standards. Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (identical to the Chicago Manual of Style) is widely available at most bookstores and in the reference section of libraries.

Graduate-level writing should have no major problems in grammar and punctuation. If you suspect your paper is weak in those areas, I strongly encourage you to ask for help from the University Writing Center, which can advise you either online or in person: <https://www.depts.ttu.edu/provost/uwc/graduate/index.php>

Presentations

Students will select one book on the first day of class to present to the class. A presentation should inform the rest of the class about the book’s contents, author, and significance. I recommend reading such complementary sources as a biography, book reviews (if available), historiographies, and similar works to gauge the full importance of a work. The purpose of these presentations is to acquaint the class well enough with works of foundational literature that they could discuss them intelligently in a paper. I highly recommend that students practice their presentations before class, to make sure that the presentation is strong and fits within the time allotted. The class would be expected to take notes over the presentations.

Grading of presentations will be on the basis of the cogency and clarity of the presentation as well as coverage of the main points mentioned above. Presentations that run longer than 25 minutes will be docked a letter grade.

Book Paper

Each student will write one paper over the book he or she chose to present in class. The paper will discuss the book’s main argument or purpose, its historical context, its author and his or her significance, and its reception, impact, and place in the literature of American environmental history. Students should consult contemporary and modern reviews, a biography and other relevant secondary sources, articles, and other secondary literature to construct this paper of 8–10 pages in length. The primary goal is the fullest possible expansion of the work’s significance.

Use 12-point Times Roman or Times New Roman, double-spaced, with 1" margins all around, with page numbers in the margin, and no extra space between paragraphs. Use a cover page. Footnotes and bibliography must conform to Turabian standards. Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (identical to Chicago Manual of Style) is widely available at most bookstores and in the reference section of libraries.

The book paper will be due in class THREE WEEKS AFTER YOUR PRESENTATION.

Grading

Grades for this course will be based 45% on your papers, 25% on your notes, 10% on your presentation, and 20% on the quality of your contributions to class discussion.

A Note on AI

There are two main goals of this seminar. The first is to familiarize you with the field of environmental history. The second goal is to train you in scholarly practices of reading texts quickly and effectively, understanding and discussing them accurately, and using their insights, methods, and approaches in your own work. I expect that you will not use any generative artificial intelligence system (like ChatGPT) in your work for this course. Any use of AI-generated work at any stage of writing for this class is a violation of academic integrity. Such systems are often inaccurate, summarize complex materials badly, and make your work worse and less interesting. Using them does not serve your development as a thinker, writer, and scholar.

The purpose of a writing assignment is not to find out what a computer program thinks or to fill the world with yet more words. The purpose is to find out what you think, but more than that, it is to prompt you to figure out for yourself what you think and put those thoughts into words in order to clarify your thoughts to yourself and express them to others.

Note also that even a small request from an AI program uses a huge amount of energy and water. It also leads to possible plagiarism.

Here is the official policy of this course: The use of generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT) is strictly prohibited in this course for any purpose. Information gathered from AI cannot be used even with appropriate citation. Submission of AI-generated content (i.e., information, text, or images) as your own work is a violation of academic integrity and may result in referral to the Office of Student Conduct. Please contact me if you have questions regarding this course policy.

 

Books

Flores, Dan. Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals and People in America. New York: W.W. Norton, 2023.

Stoll, Mark. Profit: An Environmental History. Cambridge, U.K.: Polity, 2022.

Johnston, Katherine. The Nature of Slavery: Environment and Plantation Labor in the Anglo-Atlantic World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022.

Pawley, Emily. The Nature of the Future: Agriculture, Science, and Capitalism in the Antebellum North. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2020.

Opie, John, Char Miller, and Kenna Lang Archer. Ogallala: Water for a Dry Land. 3rd ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2018.

Cialdella, Joseph Stanhope. Motor City Green: A Century of Landscapes and Environmentalism in Detroit. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020.

Busch, Andrew M. City in a Garden: Environmental Transformations and Racial Justice in Twentieth-Century Austin, Texas. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017.

Chamberlin, Silas. On the Trail: A History of American Hiking. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2016.

Shepherd, Jeffrey P. Guadalupe Mountains National Park: An Environmental History of the Southwest Borderlands. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2019.

Elmore, Bartow J. Country Capitalism: How Corporations from the American South Remade Our Economy and the Planet. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2023.

Miller, Daegan. This Radical Land: A Natural History of American Dissent. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.

Coodley, Gregg, and David Sarasohn. The Green Years, 1964–1976: When Democrats and Republicans United to Repair the Earth. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2021.

Mann, Charles C. The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World. New York: Knopf, 2018.

Turner, James Morton. Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2022.

Second Books (list to choose from on the first day of class)


Cotton Mather, The Christian Philosopher

William Bartram, Travels

Susan Fenimore Cooper, Rural Hours

Henry David Thoreau, Walden, or The Maine Woods

George Perkins Marsh, Man and Nature

John Burroughs, Signs and Seasons

John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra, or The Yosemite, or Travels in Alaska

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, River of Grass

Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Paul Ehrlich, Population Bomb

Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia

Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture

Bill McKibben, The End of Nature

Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma

Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction


 


 

Texas Tech Policies Concerning Academic Honesty, Special Accommodations for Students with Disabilities, Student Absences for Observance of Religious Holy Days, and Accommodations for Pregnant Students:

These statements can be found at this URL: <https://www.depts.ttu.edu/tlpdc/RequiredSyllabusStatements.php>

 

HIST Statement on Academic Integrity: The Department of History adheres to Texas Tech University’s statement and related policies on issues of academic integrity as detailed in OP 34.12 (see above).

    Any student found to be in violation of these policies will be subject to disciplinary action at both the departmental and university levels. At the departmental level, such action may include one or more of the following: a failing grade (F) for the assignment in question; a failing grade (F) for the course; a written reprimand; disqualification from scholarships and/or funding

    Graduate students violating academic integrity policies may also be subject to removal from the program. (See the department’s Graduate Program Handbook for more information.)

The professor reserves the right to change this syllabus at his discretion. Changes will be announced in class and posted at the Web address listed above.


 

Course Schedule

Jan 20

 

MLK Day. No class

Jan 27

 

Introduction; Flores, Wild New World

Feb 3

 

Stoll, Profit

Feb 10

 

Johnston, The Nature of Slavery

Feb 17

 

Pawley, The Nature of the Future
Presentation: Jackie, Callenbach's Ecotopia

Feb 24

 

Opie, Ogallala: Water for a Dry Land
Presentation: Bryce, Carson's Silent Spring

Mar 3

 

Cialdella, Motor City Green
Presentation: Laurie, Mather's Christian Philosopher

Mar 10

 

Busch, City in a Garden
Presentation: Shannon, Muir

Mar 17

 

SPRING BREAK

Mar 24

 

Chamberlin, On the Trail
Paper 1 due
Presentation: Isaiah, Kolbert's Sixth Extinction

Mar 31

 

Shepherd, Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Presentation: Jose, McKibben's End of Nature

Apr 7

 

Elmore, Country Capitalism
Presentation: Kristin, Cooper's Rural Hours

Apr 14

 

Miller, This Radical Land
Presentation: Gillian, Ehrlich's Population Bomb

Apr 21

 

No class

Apr 28

 

Coodley & Sarasohn, Green Years, 1964–1976; Mann, Wizard and the Prophet

May 5

 

Turner, Charged

May 13

 

Paper 2 due