ES 260:  Grasslands:  Human History and Ecology of the American Plains

Rebecca Edwards and Meg Ronsheim

Spring 2007

 

To early newcomers from the east, the Great Plains looked like empty space, a "Great American Desert" devoid of life. Our class will explore the roots of such misconceptions and their often catastrophic legacy for farmers and ranchers on the Plains, as well as for native peoples. We will study the region's biodiversity, the ecological dynamics involved in grassland conservation, and visions of a different future for this critical place in the American heartland.  The course will include a one-week trip over spring break to study the Plains, including visits to bison reintroduction sites and to the Land Institute in Kansas, which is researching perennial grain polyculture, and observation of migrating shorebirds at Cheyenne Bottoms and sandhill cranes along the Platte.

 

 

Rebecca Edwards

Office: 35 Swift

Phone: x5675

E-mail: reedwards

Office hours:  Tuesdays 1-3

            Thursdays 2-4 and by appt.

 

Meg Ronsheim

Office: 103 New England Building

Phone: x5430

E-mail: maronsheim

Office hours: Tuesdays 12-2, Wednesdays     10-12, and by appt.

Readings:

 

Additional readings will be handed out in class or on reserve at the library.

 

Assignments:

Participation                                                                                        20%

            Includes regular class attendance, participation in discussions (including both           speaking and listening), and use of Blackboard.  On seven of the eleven dates marked       with an asterisk (*) on the schedule below, you are to post a Blackboard comment on       the readings, before midnight on the night before class.  On all eleven days you      should log on and read others' comments before class.

Short biological paper due Feb. 6                                                        10%

Short historical research paper due Feb. 15                                         15%

Serving as "site guide" and discussion leader for one trip site            15%

Term paper:  topic required by Feb. 22; paper due May 8                   25%

Take-home final examination, due Monday, May 14                          15%

 

Disabilities:  Academic accommodations are available for students with disabilities who are registered with the Office of Disability and Support Services. Please schedule an appointment with us early in the semester to discuss any accommodations for this course which have been approved by the Director of Disability and Support Services as indicated in your DSS accommodation letter.

 

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory for all classes and will be part of the participation grade.  You must obtain a DeanŐs excuse if you are going to miss a class.  It is also important that you arrive to class on time.  

 

Late paper policy:  Late assignments will be penalized 1/3 letter grade for each day overdue; after three days the penalty will be one full letter grade per day and the paper may not be accepted.  Please come talk to us in advance. if you will be handing in an assignment late for any reason.  You cannot pass this course without completing all assignments.

 

We encourage you to come to our office hours if you have questions about any aspect of the course or about Environmental Studies in general.  If our office hours conflict with your other courses, you can set up an appointment to meet with either of us at another time.  Talking to us after class and e-mail are generally the best ways to set up appointments and ask questions.

                       

                                                                       

Thurs., Jan. 25          Introduction to the American grasslands

 

* Tues., Jan. 30         Climate and topography                                                     

         Read Bush, Ecology of a Changing Planet, ch. 4, 5 (soils section), and 11

 

* Thurs. Feb. 1          History of American grasslands: the bison as a case study                                  Read Isenberg, Destruction of the Bison, introduction, ch. 1-5, and conclusion

                         

Tues., Feb. 6              Grasslands ecology  (FIRST SHORT PAPER DUE)                   

         Read Bush, Ecology of a Changing Planet, ch. 15-16  (optional, if you have a keen interest

         in climate change: also ch. 17 and 18)

 

* Thurs., Feb. 8         The Nomads                                                                         

         Read Sandoz, Cheyenne Autumn (all)

 

Tues., Feb. 13                        Agroecology: the evolution and ecology of corn                

         Read Beadle, 1980 (handout)

 

Thurs., Feb. 15          Pioneer narrative research  (SECOND SHORT PAPER DUE)

                                   

Tues., Feb. 20                        Overland trails remembered

         Screening TBA:  The Covered Wagon (silent, 1923)

 

Thurs., Feb. 22          The impact of agriculture

         Screening TBA, The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936, 26 min.)       

         Read William Cronon, "A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative," Journal of                              American History 78 (1992): 1347-1376 (available in J-STOR, through the library's                           Indexes and Databases page), Bush, Ecology of a Changing Planet, ch. 18

                                                                                                                       

* Tues., Feb. 27         The potential future of Plains agriculture                                    

         Read Cox et al. 2006;  excerpts from The Land Report, Land Institute (handouts), Bush,

         Ecology of a Changing Planet, ch. 20 (sections on water)                                                                                                                    

Thurs., Mar. 1           Trip preparation (RESEARCH PROPOSAL DUE TODAY)

         Birding practice today, weather permitting: bring your binoculars if you have a pair!

 

* Tues., Mar.  6         Cranes ... and bison  redux                                                 

         Read Johnsgard, Crane Music (all)

 

Thurs., Mar. 8           Trip preparation--let's pack!                                                                                  

         Spring Break – GRASSLANDS TRIP (3/10 – 3/18)

 

Tues. Mar. 27            The American West: a look back and a look forward

 

Thurs. Mar. 29          GIS workshop

 

* Tues. April 3           The Future of the Plains:  A Bison Commons?                                                     Read Matthews, Where the Buffalo Roam, 2nd ed. (all)


* Thurs. April 5        The Future of the Plains:  Pleistocene Rewilding?                                     Read Sheperd Krech, "Pleistocene Extinctions," ch. 1 from The Ecological Indian, 29-44; and Donlan et al., 2006 (handouts)

 

* Tues. April 10         Grasslands restoration and change                                               

         Read Briggs et al. 2005, and ch. 11, "Seeds," from Richard Manning, Grassland, 230-260    (handouts)

 

* Thurs. April 12      A comparative approach to grasslands: historical perspectives

            Read Patricia Nelson Limerick, "The Case of the Premature Departure: The Trans-Mississippi West and American History Textbooks," from Something in the     Soil, 93-105; Donald Worster, "New West, True West," from Under Western   Skies: Nature and History in the American West 19-33 (handout); Walter Nugent,           "Comparing Wests and Frontiers," from Oxford History of the American West,        803-834 (on reserve).

 

* Tues. April 17         Comparative history continued

         Familiarize yourself with one source listed in the bibliographic note at the end of Nugent's      "Comparing Wests and Frontiers" (see April 12).  Note: Vassar has the Western Historical        Quarterly and Agricultural History online, and the following books are on reserve: 

         Wyman and Kroeber, eds., The Frontier in Perspective (multiple world frontiers)

         Allen, Bush and Backwoods (U.S. and Australia)

         Solberg, The Prairies and the Pampas (Canada and Argentina)

         Lamar and Thompson, The Frontier in History (N. America and Southern Africa)

        

* Thurs. April 19      A comparative approach: scientific views (TBA)

 

Tues. April 24            Field trip TBA

 

Thurs. April 26         Field trip TBA

 

Tues. May 1               Research Presentations

 

Thurs. May 3             Research Presentations

 

Tues. May 8               Synthesis and conclusions 

                                    FINAL RESEARCH PAPER DUE TODAY

 

TAKE HOME FINAL:  Due Monday, May 14