Environmental History
Unit One
Assignment 1
Submission Instructions
Please use the following instructions for submitting your assignment to your Open Learning Faculty Member.
As soon as you have completed all parts of Assignment 1, name and save your document. Send it to your Open Learning Faculty Member for marking by using theAssignments link. Be sure to include your name, the course code, assignment number, and the date of submission on the title page of your assignments, so they can be easily identified, and you can get credit for all your work. Use headers in the body of your written assignments to make sure all components of your assignments are clearly identified (course code, your surname, assignment number, date [day, month, year]).
Name your assignment file as follows: course number_your surname_assignment number_date. For example, if your name is John Smith and you are submitting Assignment 1, name your file: HIST3991_Smith_Assignment1_14June2014.
How to submit your assignment (PDF)
Note
Keep a copy of your assignment before sending it to your Open Learning Faculty Member for evaluation so you can refer to your assignment during a telephone or email discussion with your Open Learning Faculty Member. Also, in the unlikely event that your assignment is lost, you will have an extra copy of your work. Many student writing manuals today suggest that students keep copies of all early drafts of their work as well, to protect themselves against mistaken charges of plagiarism.
As soon as you have submitted your assignment, and while waiting for your Open Learning Faculty Member to return it, begin the next module.
When your marked assignment is returned, review your Open Learning Faculty Member’s comments and queries. Take the time to carefully go over the marked assignment. If necessary, reread sections of the textbook or unit commentary that gave you trouble. What lessons can you apply to your next assignment? Phone your Open Learning Faculty Member if you have any questions or problems.
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Assignment Instructions
This assignment is worth 12% of your final grade. There are two parts, short and long answer questions related to your course readings.
Short Answer Questions
In four or five sentences, briefly answer five of the following questions. Ten marks each.
1. Worster’s article uses the term “agroecological perspective.” What does he mean by this term, and how does this perspective reflect Worster’s understanding of environmental history?
2. In Crosby’s article, try to chart some of the major changes and trends in the field of environmental history. How has the field matured over time? What are some of the dominant influences of that change?
3. Try to identify what “the problem of the problem of environmental history” is, according to Sörlin and Warde. What do they see as the new direction for environmental historians?
4. Based on the readings by (Steinberg, Turner and Peacock, how would you characterize the Aboriginal relationship with non-human nature and the environment prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America?
5. Based on Krech’s reflections, how has the concept of the “Ecological Indian” continued to influence modern environmentalism?
6. How does Crosby , try to keep geography in mind. Where does Crosby concentrate his analysis? What parts of the New World does he talk about?
7. What do Piper and Sandlos add to Crosby’s arguments? How does this research challenge the idea of ecological imperialism?
Long Answer Questions
Answer two of the following questions. 250-350 words per question. Twenty-five marks each.
1. What is environmental history and how can it help us re-think the study of the past? How did your initial thoughts on environmental history compare to what you read in the articles?
2. Similar to the “Keep America Beautiful” video, find two additional online sources that represent Aboriginal people along the lines of the “Ecological Indian” and explain how the readings reflect or contradict these representations.
3. In what ways can Alfred Crosby’s concept of ecological imperialism be applied to Canada? How did ecological imperialism occur differently in Canada compared to the United States and Central America?
The following criteria will be used to evaluate your answers.
| Criteria | Weighting |
| Your response adequately addresses/answers the question. | /10 |
| Your response demonstrates critical and thoughtful reflection on the readings, videos, and other course materials. It synthesizes ideas from the course material and includes your own interpretation/response. | /10 |
| Your response is written in clear, fluent, and technically correct prose. (Note that the writing is less formal than an essay, so you may write in the first person.) | /5 |
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