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Nature and the American West
Broadly, this course is concerned with the importance of nature, as concept and as material reality, to the cultures, politics, and economies of the American West. More particularly, the class focuses on attempts to manage nature in the West, particularly after the onset of U.S. westward expansion. This term we will be using the 2016 occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge as a case study in the culture and politics of nature in the West.

Learning Goals and Outcomes: In taking this course, you will learn to:

  • Interpret "nature" and its role in the historical geography of the American West;
  • Assess the institutions implicated in efforts to manage nature in the West;
  • Discuss current philosophical and political debates about those efforts.
These goals reflect the geography faculty's emphasis on students being able to "interpret the interrelationships between people, space and place" and "analyze human-environment relations" and the university's commitments to students being able to show learning in Inquiry & Analysis and Integrative Learning.

Format: This course is conducted as an online seminar with one hour of classroom discussion each week on Mondays 3:00-3:50 in HSS 108. Online assignments and activities are posted to the course Moodle site.

 
Shaun Huston's web site is at: http://www.wou.edu/~hustons

Created by Anne-Marie Deitering and Shaun Huston

Please address comments or questions to hustons@wou.edu