Professor: Amy Clary
Institution: American University of Beirut
Course Number: ENGL 244/AMST 276
Course: The American Wilderness
Institution: American University of Beirut (Beirut, Lebanon)
Spring 2010, MWF 10:00 – 10:50 a.m., Nicely Room 107
Dr. Amy Clary
Required Materials.
AUB email address and Moodle login.
American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, ed. Bill McKibben, 2008.
Into the Wild, John Krakauer. New York: Anchor Books, 1997. ISBN: 0385486804
Course texts on Moodle. Please print out or photocopy electronic texts and bring them to class on the days assigned.
Course Description.
The proliferation of wilderness-themed television programs, books, computer games, and consumer products in contemporary American culture might give the impression that the celebration of wilderness is a long-standing American tradition. On the contrary, the value and definition of wilderness has long been debated in the U. S. Questions about the effects of wilderness on the character of American pioneers, the relative merits of preserving or developing wild land, and the ownership and stewardship of America’s open spaces have generated impassioned argument. Coming to terms with the role of wilderness in contemporary American culture is essential to understanding an American national identity. It is also essential to understanding the current debates over preserving or destroying the nation’s remaining wild lands.
Through an examination of legal, literary, and cultural texts, this course will explore the role of wilderness in America. From colonial contacts with wilderness to the protection of public lands to the development of the national park system, this course will examine the definition and representation of American wilderness in its many permutations. We will also explore the role of wilderness in an age of technology and simulation, and discuss the future of wilderness in the American cultural imagination.
Course Goals.
This course will demand that you develop the focus, memory, and commitment required of all good readers of difficult texts and apply them to legal, literary, popular, and visual texts from a variety of time periods. It will also ask you to expand your repertoire of critical lenses through which you read texts, and to communicate challenging and complex ideas in conversation and writing.
By the end of the course, you should be able to trace the legislative, cultural, and literary history of wilderness in the U.S., and should have your own working definition of the term “wilderness.”
Course Requirements and Grading Criteria.
Attendance, class participation, oral presentation, blog post and comments: 15%
In-class exam 1: 15%
In-class exam 2: 20%
In-class exam 3: 20%
Essay(s): 30%
Exams and quizzes.
There will be three cumulative in-class exams. These exams will be closed-book. Under most circumstances, missed exams may not be made up. There may also be unannounced reading quizzes, which cannot ordinarily be made up if you are absent or late to class. Cumulative quiz grades will be factored into your participation grade.
Essay(s).
Option A: two four-page papers.
Paper #1: due Monday, March 22 (worth 10% of final grade)
Paper #2: due Friday, May 28 (worth 20% of final grade)
Option B: one eight-page paper.
Due Friday, May 28 (worth 30% of final grade)
Papers that are short, have too-wide margins, too much spacing, or too-large font will suffer a grade penalty. Do not expect to have a late paper accepted.
Blog post and two comments. (will not receive a letter grade, but will be factored into the class participation score). Each student will be required to post one original five-hundred-word blog entry on a topic that helps illustrate or complicate ideas about wilderness and people’s interactions with–and simulations of–it. At least one image should be included. Also, each student will make a substantive comment of at least three sentences in response to at least two other blog posts. All blog posts should be done by May 3rd; comments may be done any time before May 28. I have posted a couple entries to help generate some ideas. You can view the blog at http://aubwilderness.blogspot.com.
To post your blog entry: go to www.blogger.com. After you log in, click on “new post” to begin your post. Click on the “insert image” icon on the toolbar to add a photo.
Presentation (10 minutes). Students will work independently or in pairs to research a topic discussed by or related to the assigned reading for a particular day.
Attendance. Your attendance and participation are important to the success of the class as a whole, as well as to your own academic development. Much of our in-class work will be impossible to make up if you are absent for any reason. Please do not miss class. Except in very unusual circumstances, a student who for any reason misses six class meetings during the first ten weeks of class will be required to drop the course. Any student who misses more than nine class meetings for any reason should not expect to pass the class.
Plagiarism and Other Forms of Academic Dishonesty.
Academic dishonesty (including cheating and plagiarism, the use of another’s text or ideas without proper credit and citation) will earn students a variety of sanctions, starting with a failing grade on the assignment. Please see the AUB Student Handbookand “Student Code of Conduct” for details.
Course schedule
This schedule is not written in stone and may change depending on the needs of the class.
FEBRUARY
INTRODUCTION
Monday 15 course introductions; syllabus
Wednesday 17 R. Crumb, “A Short History of America” (American Earth p. 591-594)
Part I: The History of the Wilderness Idea in the U. S.
Friday 19 Introduction by Bill McKibben (American Earthp. xxi-xxxi)
Monday 22 excerpt from “Ktaadn,” by Henry David Thoreau (on Moodle). Bring American Earth to class also.
Wednesday 24 excerpt from “Wilderness,” Greg Garrard (handout)
Friday 26 holiday – no class
MARCH
Monday 1 continue excerpt from “Wilderness,” Greg Garrard (handout)
Wednesday 3 Thoreau, excerpt from Walden, (American Earthp. 9-19)
Friday 5 Thoreau, excerpt from Walden, (American Earth p.19-25)
Presentation __________________________
Monday 8 Thoreau, “Huckleberries” (American Earth p. 26-36)
Part II: Protecting Public Land: National Parks, Urban spaces
Wednesday 10 excerpts from The National Park Service Organic Act (on Moodle)
Friday 12 John Muir, “Hetch Hetchy Valley,” (American Earth p. 104-112)
Presentation __________________________
Monday 15 Frederick Law Olmsted, “The Plans of the Central Park”, (American Earth p. 120-125)
Presentation __________________________
Wednesday 17 In-class exam #1
Friday 19 “Constructing Nature: The Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted,” Anne Whiston Spirn (handout)
Monday 22 excerpts from The Wilderness Act of 1964(American Earth p. 392-394)
Wednesday 24 synthesis day – no reading assignment
Friday 26 N. Scott Momaday, “A First American Views His Land” (American Earth p. 570-581)
Presentation __________________________
Monday 29 Edward Abbey, “Polemic: Industrial Tourism and National Parks” (American Earth p. 413-421)
Wednesday 31 continue Edward Abbey, “Polemic: Industrial Tourism and National Parks” (American Earth p. 421-433)
Presentation __________________________
APRIL
Friday 2 holiday – no class
Monday 5 holiday – no class
Wednesday 7 former U. S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, “Remarks at the Signing of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965,” (American Earth p. 395-398)
Presentation __________________________
Part III: Wilderness Contaminations, simulations and Celebrations.
Friday 9 Rachel Carson, from Silent Spring (American Earth p. 365-376)
Presentation __________________________
Monday 12 Bill McKibben, from The End of Nature(American Earth p. 718-724)
Presentation __________________________
Wednesday 14 Terry Tempest Williams, from Refuge(American Earth p. 739-752)
Friday 16 continue Terry Tempest Williams, from Refuge(American Earth p. 752-759)
Presentation __________________________
Monday 19 In-class exam #2
Wednesday 21 Sandra Steingraber, from Having Faith(American Earth p. 929-938)
Presentation __________________________
Friday 23 Michael Pollan, from The Omnivore’s Dilemma(American Earth p. 948-960)
Presentation __________________________
Monday 26 Alice Walker, “Everything is a Human Being”(American Earth p. 659-670)
Wednesday 28 David Quammen, “Planet of Weeds” (American Earth p. 874-884)
Friday 30 continue David Quammen, “Planet of Weeds”(American Earth p. 884-897)
Presentation __________________________
MAY
Monday 3 Philip K. Dick, from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (American Earth p. 451-453)
Wednesday 5 synthesis day—no reading assignment
Friday 7 Into the Wild
Monday 10 Into the Wild
Wednesday 12 Into the Wild
Presentation __________________________
Friday 14 In-class exam #3
Monday 17 Into the Wild
Wednesday 19 Into the Wild
Presentation __________________________
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