IMPORTANT: Please note this is a DRAFT syllabus. The final version will be posted by the start of Winter Quarter on Monday, January 5.
U.S. Environmental History
ENVIR 221 A, HSTAA 221 A
Winter 2026
Monday-Wednesday, 3:30-5:20 p.m.
Art Building, Room 003
Dr. Ross Coen
Email: rcoen@uw.edu
Office: Smith 103-G
In-person office hours: Wednesday, 1:00-3:00 p.m., and by appointment
Zoom office hours: Monday, 8:00-10:00 a.m.
GETTING STARTED:
U.S. Environmental History is an in-person lecture course, which means class generally consists of lectures by the professor. In-class discussions of readings will take place from time to time. Class materials will be posted on Canvas, including all readings (other than the textbook), assignments, discussion boards, and so on. The materials are organized by week under the Modules tab on the Canvas site. Please familiarize yourself with Canvas and check the Modules regularly.
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:
This course explores major themes in Environmental History by posing three broad questions: How have humans interacted with the landscape at different times in history? What were the consequences of those interactions? How and why have ideas about the environment and environmental ethics changed over time? Environmental History is not merely about so-called natural landscapes; it also encompasses human-altered landscapes, built environments, and attempts to “control” nature. Environmental History overlaps with culture, economics, politics, labor, race, gender, the arts, and quite literally any other historical topic you can name—which makes for a field so expansive that it is itself a subject for analytical and critical assessment. Each week we will discuss tenets of the field in a broad U.S. context, while also exploring issues specific to the Pacific Northwest.
The goals of this course are to furnish you with narratives of Environmental History, familiarize you with theoretical and analytical approaches to studying the field, introduce you to significant primary and secondary sources, and provide you with opportunities to discuss, write about, and, most importantly, do Environmental History.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1) Weekly Portfolio
Each week (except for the first and last weeks of the quarter) students will submit via Canvas a typed, 300-word essay response to assigned readings. In each portfolio essay, the student should respond to some aspect(s) of that week’s readings they found interesting. I am not expecting polished essays with an introduction, body, and conclusion, all working together to prove a thesis. Simply take the week’s readings and write a response. Think of this as a “free-write” exercise. You might use your essay to explore a theme in greater detail. You might pose questions about something in the readings that confused you. You might connect/compare/contrast themes in one reading to those from a previous week. It’s really wide open, and the choice is yours. As long as your essays demonstrate that you’ve done the readings and engaged with them in a thoughtful manner, you’ll get full credit.
If there are two readings in a given week, you may write your essay on one or both of them.
The essays must be submitted on Canvas no later than the start of class each Monday. Late papers will not be accepted without permission. Permission will be granted for valid reasons only. The essays will not be graded on an individual basis but will be assessed on a completed/not completed basis. The portfolio is worth 20 percent of your course grade. (Note: Class will not meet on Monday, January 19, and Monday, February 16, due to national holidays. In those weeks, your Portfolio Essay will be due by the start of class on Wednesday.)
2) Place Paper
Students will write a “Place Paper” of 8-10 pages that presents an opportunity to do Environmental History by examining human-environment interactions in the context of a specific location selected by the student. Three times during the quarter—January 26, February 18, February 23—we will go into small groups and workshop each other’s paper ideas, sources, and arguments. More information will be provided. The place paper is due on Monday, March 9, and it is worth 40 percent of your course grade.
3) Mid-term Exam
Students will complete a mid-term exam on Wednesday, February 11. More information on the exam, including a study guide, will be provided as the date draws near. The mid-term exam is worth 20 percent of your course grade.
4) Final Exam
Students will complete a final exam on Thursday, March 19. More information on the exam will be provided as the date draws near. The final exam is worth 20 percent of your course grade.
Grade Breakdown
Weekly Portfolio 20%
Place Paper 40%
Mid-term Exam 20%
Final Exam 20%
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Class attendance is required. I do expect students will be absent on occasion for a variety of reasons, and all I ask is that you contact me before (if possible) or as soon as possible after the class you missed. During these uncertain times, I am fully prepared to extend deadlines when warranted. Students should prioritize their physical and mental health. If you anticipate or encounter a problem with attendance, it is always useful to contact the professor promptly. I respect your privacy and will do what I can to try to reasonably accommodate your situation.
REQUIRED READINGS
There is one required book. Please obtain a copy if you have not done so already. An e-book version may be available at UW Libraries.
BJ Cummings, The River That Made Seattle: A Human and Natural History of the Duwamish (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2020)
In addition, you will be reading a selection of articles, excerpts, speeches, and other materials, all of which are posted on the Canvas course page. You will be reading as many as 100 pages or more some weeks. This may seem like a lot, but written work is the foundation of historical inquiry. Completion of the reading assignments is vital to your success in the course. When doing the readings, please do not simply read the words in an effort to get it over with as quickly as possible. Engage your critical thinking skills and identify the author’s argument, evidence, sources, and so on. The reading load will vary from week to week, so please look ahead in the syllabus and plan accordingly.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Please note the course schedule is subject to revision. Any changes to the schedule will be announced in class and posted on the Canvas site. It is the student’s responsibility to keep apprised of the course schedule.
All readings, assignments, and other materials will be posted on Canvas under “Modules.” Please get in the habit of checking Modules often so that you remain aware of all assignments.
Week 1: January 5-7
Introduction to Course, The Columbian Exchange
Readings: John Winthrop, “The grounds of settling a plantation in new England”
Discussion Board Assignment: Who are you? And why are you taking this course?
Week 2: January 12-14
Ecology and Imperialism
Readings: (1) William Cronon, “The View from Walden”; (2) William Cronon, “Using Environmental History”
Assignment: portfolio essay due 3:30 p.m., Monday, January 12
Week 3: January 19-21 (no class on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
Wilderness and Romantic Landscapes
Readings: (1) William Cronon, “The Trouble with Wilderness”; (2) James Morton Turner, “Why a Wilderness Act?” in The Promise of Wilderness: American Environmental Politics Since 1964 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2012).
Assignment: portfolio essay due 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, January 21
Week 4: January 26-28
Industrialization and Resource Development
Readings: Kathryn Morse, “The Nature & Culture of Food,” in The Nature of Gold: An Environmental History of the Klondike Gold Rush (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2003).
Assignments: (1) portfolio essay due 3:30 p.m., Monday, January 26; (2) Tangible Object assignment due in class on Monday, January 26
Week 5: February 2-4
U.S. Imperialism and the Global Environment
Readings: Daniel Immerwahr, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Guano But Were Afraid to Ask,” in How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019).
Assignment: portfolio essay due 3:30 p.m., Monday, February 2
Week 6: February 9-11
The New Deal
Readings: “President Franklin D. Roosevelt Dedicates Hoover Dam, 1935”
Assignment: portfolio essay due 3:30 p.m., Monday, February 9
Mid-term Exam: Wednesday, February 11
Week 7: February 16-18 (no class on Monday for President’s Day)
Gender, Race, and Class
Readings: Mark Fiege, “The Road to Brown v. Board,” in The Republic of Nature: An Environmental History of the United States (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2012).
Assignments: (1) portfolio essay due 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 18; (2) Source analysis paper due in class on Wednesday, February 18
Week 8: February 23-25
Suburbia and the Built Environment
Readings: BJ Cummings, The River That Made Seattle, Preface, Introduction, and Chapters 1-2
Assignments: (1) portfolio essay due 3:30 p.m., Monday, February 23; (2) 1-page prospectus due in class on Monday, February 23
Week 9: March 2-4
Imagining Nature in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest
Readings: BJ Cummings, The River That Made Seattle, Chapters 3-5 and Afterword
Assignment: portfolio essay due 3:30 p.m., Monday, March 2
Week 10: March 9-11
Environmental Justice
Readings: none
Assignments: (1) NO portfolio essay due this week; (2) Place Paper due at the start of class on Monday, March 9
Week 11:
Final Exam: Thursday, March 19, 2:30-4:20 p.m.