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Theodore Roosevelt and the
Conservation Legacy
Geography 499/English 499
Instructor: Dr. Gary Cummisk
Meetings will be held on Tuesday afternoons
at 2:30 p.m., with the exception of fieldtrips.
Jan. 11 Introduction to expectations of course. Assignment: Write and essay (3 pages) that expresses an experience that brought you close to nature.
18 Read and discuss student essays in class.
22 or 29 Day long fieldtrip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
25 Discussion of Theodore Roosevelt’s essays
Feb. 1 Discussion of Gifford Pinchot’s essay and the concepts of use versus preservation.
8 Discussion of John Muir essays and need for preservation of wild nature.
15 Spring Break, No Class
22 Discussion of readings (selected chapters) from Mary Austin’s Land of Little Rain.
Mar. 1 Discussion of Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, part 1, pp. 3-87. Leopold’s Sand County embodies three distinctive approaches to the natural history essay, the first being the almanac form which involves living in a particular place over a considerable period of time and writing about the experience. Such a method was employed by Henry David Thoreau in his classic Walden. Part 1 of Sand County employs this technique.
8 Discussion of Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, part 2, “Sketches Here and There,” pp. 95-158. Another popular method of writing about nature is via the travel essay. “Sketches” explores Leopold’s approach to this genre.
15 Discussion of Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, part 3, “The Upshot,” pp. 165-226. In this last part of Sand County, Leopold explores philosophical ideas relating to the natural world and its preservation. Place is used a backdrop to support concept.
22 Visual Representations of Nature. This class period students will report on selected painters, photographers, sculptors, architects, and “schools” of work that address nature and the American landscape.
29 Readings and discussions of selected poetry [from the collected writings in the compilation designed for this class].
April 9-10 Weekend fieldtrip/workshop to Logging Camp Ranch. We will visit a working western ranch, see how conservation has been employed on the premises, hike, and engage in individualized creative projects, and participate in group discussion. We will also have meals on the premises, including a bison dinner. Each student will be expected to begin production of a least one new creative work.
12 Discussion of selected readings from Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire. What is the role of parks, and how should parks best be managed to serve the public good?
19 Discussion/submission of works for publication. We will collectively critique works that we want to publish. Everyone should contribute either an essay, a poem or a creative visual piece for the as yet unnamed publication.
26 Discussion and final selection of pieces for our class publication. Discussion of formatting issues.
May 3 Final meeting. |