This course is an introductory survey of ideas of nature in Western culture. It explores the many perspectives through which human beings have envisioned and affected the nonhuman world. We will begin by examining the relationship of language to environmental values and behavior and by surveying the current state of the biosphere. We will then contrast the views of nature as a material and spiritual resource by comparing the emergence and continuing significance of consumerism and romanticism in Western culture. We will also explore the role that ideas of nature have played in presidential campaigns and in the battle over old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. Finally, we will examine two of the ways that people have begun to reimagine nature as an integral part of human life by reading work by members of the environmental justice and sustainable agriculture movements. Our texts will include books by E. O. Wilson, Jon Krakauer, and Sandra Steingraber, as well as several excellent documentaries. Course requirements include a class presentation, several quizzes and papers, and a final project.

Class URL: http://www.agricola.umn.edu/rhet3383/fall04/
Class time: 50% lecture, 50% discussion
Work load: 75 pages of reading per week, 20 pages of writing per semester, 5 papers, 5 quizzes, 1 project
Grade: 65% written reports or papers, 25% quizzes, 10% class participation
Exam format: quizzes: various formats

Liberal education requirements: This course fulfills the liberal education requirements for "Environment Theme" and "Other Humanities Core."

Degree requirements: This course fulfills a degree requirement for the "Environmental Education" concentration of the BS in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies offered by the College of Natural Resources; for the "Environmental Education" emphasis of the BS in Environmental Science offered by the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences; and for the "Food Systems and the Environment" minor offered by the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences.