Special Topics in Environmental Policy and Culture (390-0-22)

Topic

Knowing Nature

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-343: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

Course title: Knowing Nature

How do we understand the world around us? Do we collect, draw, describe, measure, or dissect? How have methods of understanding environments near and far changed over time? This class will explore the history of the environmental sciences (and its relatives and predecessors) to understand the ways humans have created knowledge of the natural world. By reviewing methods of scientific documentation and assessment from the early modern period to the present day, students will gain familiarity with methods of observation and evidence used across the natural sciences and learn to think critically about the conditions under which ‘scientific investigation' is employed. Topics will vary across travel narratives, cartography, nomenclature and taxonomy, and craniometry. Many of these evidentiary practices are still in use today, and serve as central evidence for scientific studies, climate policy, and nonprofit initiatives. As a result of its historical focus, this course will also interrogate how practices of scientific measurement and documentation are intimately tied to the establishment of imperial control, leading to lasting legacies in modern political and climate landscapes. Class trips to the Field Museum and McCormick Library of Special Collections will be incorporated into learning.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the history of observation and the scientific method. Apply this knowledge to explore how science is tied to methods of political control.
• Identify the varying human motivations for creating the knowledge of nature across history. Analyze the continuities and changes in these motivations.
• Develop knowledge on the significance of ‘objectivity' in scientific measurement and methods, and evaluate how what counts as evidence has changed over time.
• Improve writing confidence and effectiveness over the course, and develop the ability to synthesize knowledge into argument and narrative.

Evaluation Method

Class participation, short essays/reflections, end of term project/paper

Class Materials (Required)

Course reading materials will be articles, excerpts, documents, and visual material posted to Canvas.

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Pre-registration: Students must be a Environmental Policy, Environmental Science or Science in Human Culture major or minor to register.