Environmental History -- First Class of the New Year

My Environmental History course had its first meeting of the year bright and early this Monday morning.  After reviewing the basic details of the course (syllabus, readings, lecture schedule, essay assignments and so forth), we had a very good discussion identifying what the students already knew about environmental history.  As it turned out, quite a lot!

My notes on the blackboard provide just the briefest summary of the students' thoughtful contributions.  They touched on European views of nature in North America; the relation between political crisis, the Enlightenment, and views of nature; the history of environmental aesthetics; Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives; the environment and national identity, here in Canada and elsewhere; ecological succession; the formation of global environmental perspectives; and the history of the environment in wartime.

This has happened before: I get very impressed by the depth and seriousness with which students approach these topics, and the study of environmental history.  It's a big class this year (78 students), so there should be lots more such discussions, with lots of diverse perspectives.  Should be an interesting term!

Next week we bring it home, examining the environmental history of our own campus.