ATH 262 - Historical Ecology

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR: Meets general academic requirement DE.
Historical ecology is the study of long term interactions between people, their institutions, and their environments. We will critically evaluate arguments about the current relationship between people and the environment in popular texts using archaeological, historical, and ethnographic evidence. Many current pressing issues can be assessed more appropriately when viewed from a long-term perspective gained from an historical or archaeological approach. We will focus on some of these issues. Some questions that will be addressed include: Where do people encourage the spread of forests into the greatest desert in the world? Where does an increase in population result in less environmental impact? Can the poor soil of the rainforest support “civilization?” We will also examine the local environment over the past 100 years.