Click to jump to the following sections on this page:

Core Areas and Sub-Fields
Training and Experience
Teaching Philosophy and Approach
Description of Courses Taught
Additional Course Options

Visiting Assistant Professor.  Department of History, St. Olaf College.  2001-2003.
 American Environmental History; American West:  Myth and History; Culture of Nature; Saving Wild Places.

Visiting Assistant Professor.  Department of History, University of San Diego.  2000-2001.
 American Environmental History; History of the American West I and II; American Indian History; American Civilization I.

Lecturer.  Department of History, University of California, San Diego.  1999-2000.
The American City in the 20th Century; Western Environmental History.

Teaching Assistant.  Department of History, University of California, San Diego.  1993-1995; 1998-1999.
United States Survey; Race and Ethnicity in the United States; The American City in the 20th Century; Western Environmental History.

Writing Instructor.  Warren College Writing Program, University of California, San Diego.  1995-1998; 1999.
Warren Writing 10A; Warren Writing 10B.

Reader.  Department of History, University of California, San Diego.  1992-1993.
Western Environmental History; American Foreign Relations, 1865-present.

Preparing Professional Faculty program participant.  Center for Teaching Development, University of California, San Diego.  1999.
This optional ten-week program teaches participants the practical skills needed to be a successful teaching assistant and later faculty.  The course, which consists of a series of weekly workshops, provides information on public speaking, course and syllabus design, grading techniques, professional responsibilities, classroom management, teaching strategies, and self-evaluation.  Participants practice their new skills through hands-on activities, such as preparing, giving, and evaluating a lecture, establishing a mentoring relationship with a faculty member, and designing a course from scratch.

In my teaching I endeavor to make the material challenging and meaningful.  I respect the intelligence and abilities of my students while recognizing that extending and refining their skills is also necessary.  Course work and exams encourage exploration and promote independent thinking, while also recognizing the value of collaborative work.  Discipline is structural, rather than personal, with an eye towards making students actively responsible for their own learning.

I favor active engagement with the materials -- as through workshops, discussion and field work -- and use lectures primarily to provide structure and background information.  In-class work provides a forum for a closer reading of course material, practice in practical skills (such as map interpretation and design), and discussion of larger course themes.  Lectures, as noted, introduce students to new material and lend structure to information provided in readings and discussion.  Occasionally they will also cover topics not addressed by any of the texts but which are relevant to the course.  Texts serve as sources of data, offer possible interpretive frameworks, and introduce different perspectives on the main course topic.  Papers and projects encourage students to develop knowledge of specific historical events into cogent arguments on issues of interest to the student.  Exams test the students' knowledge of course materials (as through quizzes, multiple choice and short identifications), their skill in combining specific data with thoughtful analysis, and their ability to find and create meaning beyond the explanations given in lecture.

My goal is to produce self-motivated students with a good understanding of the material and the ability to pursue the topic on their own.  I want them to take responsibility for their own learning, and to help them develop the skills needed to make sense of information that they may encounter on their own.  Above all, I want them to come away from my classes with a sense of the rich complexity of history, the ability and motivation to ask hard questions, and an unwillingness to settle for easy answers.

HIST 206A - The United States since 1865.   St. Olaf. College.  Spring semester 2002.  As we study the development of American institutions and society from the Civil War to the present, we will examine economic, social, cultural  and political themes with a special emphasis on changing interpretations. Major topics are Reconstruction, urbanization, populism, progressivism, depression, New Deal, foreign relations, civil rights, social reform, equality for women, and other recent trends.

HIST 246 -  American Environmental History. St. Olaf College.  Fall semester 2001.  Fall semester 2002.  By examining the interaction of people and environment on the North American continent from the 15th century to the present, we see how history “takes place” in ecological contexts that change over time.  Students compare Native American and Euro-American religious beliefs, social values, economic aspirations, and technological developments and examine their consequences for the flora, fauna, and peoples of the continent.  The spread of the Euro-American ecoscape is of particular interest.

ES 101- The Culture of Nature. St. Olaf College.  Fall semester 2001.  Fall semester 2002.  This environmental history course explores the social construction of "nature" in the 20th century, looking at the historical roots of contemporary environmental issues.  We learn about the history of "nature" in the United States and what it means to say that "nature" is historically specific and culturally constructed.  We question representations of the non-human world, and ask what agendas or presuppositions lie behind them.  We explore how issues of class, race, and gender, nationalism, individualism, and identity are contested and expressed through the medium of "nature."  We interpret the cultural and ecological terrain of local ecoscapes, and we assess the pros and cons of using "nature" to understand the non-human world (we will explore the ecoscape as an alternative).  You will learn why "nature" appears in scare quotes in this introduction!

ES 259 - Saving Wild Places:  The Human Value of Wilderness.   St. Olaf College.  Spring semester 2002.  Spring semester 2003.  This course explores the idea of wilderness and the ways that it has reflected and shaped human attitudes toward the environment historically.  Current discussion of wilderness preservation often focuses on non-human benefits, such as the protection of biodiversity or wildlife habitat.  A significant tradition of American thought, literature and public policy also emphasizes the benefits of wilderness and wilderness experience for human beings, including human freedom, morality, self-reliance, health, spirituality and solitude.  This seminar explores the history of American environmental thought, wilderness legislation, and public-land discussions to understand the importance of wilderness in American life and to access its role in American society today.
 

HIST 171 -  American Indian History.  USD.  Spring semester 2001.  History of the indigenous peoples of North America from the pre-contact era to the present.

HIST 181 - History of the American West II.  USD.  Spring semester 2001.  History of the American West from 1850 to the present.

HIST 170 - American Environmental History.  USD.  Fall semester 2000.  This course explores the environment and human history of the current United States.  Beginning with an examination of the pre-contact ecoscape, the course subsequently explores the arrival of Europeans in the New World, and concludes with an overview of environmental issues that continue to affect us today.  In-class time is divided between lectures and discussions.  Students explore an environmental topic of their choice (approved by me) in a project designed to encourage analysis, synthesis, and original research; this project deals with some aspect of American environmental history in a way that demonstrates the student's ability to do original research and synthesize existing interpretations.

HIST 180 - History of the American West I.  USD.  Fall semester 2000.  This course focuses on the development of the West from the time of the frontier West to 1850.  Emphasis is placed on the conquest of the West by Europeans and Americans, and the implications thereof for Indians, Mexicans, and other western peoples.  The question of region versus frontier as a historiographical framework is also raised.  Specific topics include European expansion, Indian resistance, and the California gold rush.  The course also considers the effects of environment and culture on these processes.   In-class time is divided between lectures and discussions.

In 1999, the course was modified to focus exclusively on the American Southwest, reflecting the interests of the current instructor, Dr. Mark Hineline .

In Winter 2000, this course explored the environment and history of the American West.  In particular, we asked and considered how human beings have perceived and interacted with their environments over time.  We explored both issues concerning specific sub-regions of the American West -- such as logging and over-fishing in the Pacific Northwest -- and those that concern the region as a whole.

HILD 7A-C - Race and Ethnicity in the United States.  A lecture-discussion course on the comparative ethnic history of the United States.  Lectures and discussions survey the topics of race, slavery, demographic patterns, ethnic variety, rural and urban life in the U.S.A., with special focus on European, Asian, and Mexican immigration.

7A.  Of central concern are slavery, race, oppression, mass migrations, ethnicity, city life in industrial America, and power and protest in modern America.

7B.  Of central concern are the Asian-American and white ethnic groups, race, oppression, mass migrations, ethnicity, city life in industrial America, and power and protest in modern America.  Also considers the history of Native Americans.

7C.  Of central concern are the Mexican-American, race, oppression, mass migrations, ethnicity, city life in industrial America, and power and protest in modern America.

Warren Writing 10A.  This  workshop-based course introduces students to academic writing, using Stephen Toulmin’s concepts of argumentation as its central organizing principle.

Warren Writing 10B.   This workshop-based course refines students’ understanding and application of Stephen Toulmin’s techniques of argumentative writing.  Instructors are responsible for course design and choose their own focus; my course in 1998 was ecology-based:

The subject of this class is ecology, broadly defined.  In it we examine the issues of world hunger, pollution, animal rights, environmental justice, eco-feminism, and related issues.  The central tenet of this course is that “nature” or “environment” or “ecology” exists in a human social context, from which it cannot be separated.  At the same time, human beings are part of a wider ecosystem, and likewise cannot be separated from it. By looking at ecological issues we can understand wider social relationships; at the same time, we cannot understand ecological problems without an awareness of the societies that produce them and offer solutions to them.  As this course moves beyond the popular conceptions of environmentalism, therefore, it is expected that both environmentalists and those who reject that label will find this course challenging and thought-provoking.

The Literature of Landscape.  This course examines the role literature has played in the understanding, appreciation, and history of American ecoscapes.  Classic works of nature writing -- by writers such as Thoreau, Muir, Powell, Leopold and Carson -- will be placed in historical context; modern environmental writers such as Stegner, T.T. Williams, Abbey, McPhee, Frasier, and Least Heat Moon will also be considered (the selection depends on regional focus).  The goal of the course is to understand how literature is shaped by historical and environmental context, while simultaneously examining the ways that literature influences cultural understanding and practice.  As part of this exploration, students will learn how to combine personal environmental insight with lucid arguments intended to influence and educate larger audiences about environmental issues and experiences.

History of the American West.  This course uses narratives based on the “New Western History” school to explore the history of the American West from European arrival to the present day.  The role of the federal government in the development of the region will be examined, the dynamics of native-white relationships and their effects considered, and the question of the West as trend-setter for the nation explored.   Urban-rural, environmental, and cultural themes are emphasized.  Given student interest, this course can be subdivided into courses examining the Pacific Slope, the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Southwest.

American Environmental History.  This course considers the transformation of the north American continent; the history of pre-contact Native American ecoscapes as well as those of the present day will be considered.  Continuity versus change, the role of cultural understandings, and debates about preservation versus conservation comprise the major themes.  This course can be offered as a single-semester course or as a two- or three-term series.  It can be broken down into three courses dealing with the environmental history of the South, Northeast, and/or West.

Environment and Culture in America.  This course explores the relationships between national identity and environmental perspectives in American society.  The origins of modern environmental thought will be traced and their implications considered, emphasizing an on-going tension between preservationist and conservationist trends.  Both literary and historical narratives will be examined.

The Making of a Region.  This course combines approaches from environmental and cultural history and focuses on one of the major American ecoscapes (such as the Great Plains, American Southwest, Pacific Coast, New England, Rocky Mountains, Alaska, Hawaii, American South, Pacific Northwest, and so on).  The ecoscape chosen will depend on the specific needs and interests of students and the department.  The development of the chosen region, drawing from historical, environmental, geographical, and cultural narratives, will be explored.  Students will read in a variety of genres to develop an understanding of the region’s history and role in both local and national contexts.

Comparative Frontiers.  This course examines and critiques the idea of the frontier in American history, particularly the history of the American West, as initially articulated by historian Frederick Jackson Turner.  Modifications of and alternatives to the Turnerian frontier model will be explored and the American frontier experience will be compared to those involved in the settlement of Australia, Latin America and Canada.

World Environmental History.  This course will consider the causes and effects of Western Hemisphere expansion on the world’s ecoscapes.  A particular focus will be the relation between socio-cultural change and environmental change.  Beginning with Europe, the course then follows the expansion of that continent's peoples influence into North and South America, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Africa.  This course can be expanded into a three-term sequence that explores pre-modern, modern, and post-modern periods, or a two-term sequence dividing its focus between the age of imperialism and its aftermath in the 20th century.  If this is to be offered as a graduate level course, the different assumptions underlying environmental history as practiced in the United States versus that practiced in other countries will also be discussed.

Assessing the "Indian Environmentalist."  This seminar examines the idea of the Native American as a "natural environmentalist," with an eye towards complicating commonly held stereotypes and understanding how they are deployed by environmental activists and indigenous peoples.  The course also considers the question of environmental justice for indigenous peoples.  Coursework would include readings about American beliefs about native peoples, materials by native voices and activists, and, conditions permitting, oral interviews and field work with local  indigenous peoples.

Lived Experience in a Local Ecoscape.  This small, experiential course is intended to prompt students to think about the ways they interact with their surroundings on a daily basis.  Part of the course is concerned with providing a solid theoretical understanding of the ways people represent and conceptualize non-human environments, and part with exposing students to examples of "nature writing," scientific field studies, and similar ways of understanding and representing the environment.  Students also keep an "ecoscape journal" in which they record daily interactions with the non-human world.  In-class time will be spent primarily in discussion or workshops, with lectures as needed.  Workshops in sketching, journal keeping and storytelling will be included as time and interest permit.  This course could also integrate studies in the field, as I am qualified to lead a small group of students on trips involving hiking, backpacking, or canoeing.

The Environmental History of Food in America.  This seminar course examines one of the most intimate links between humans and the non-human world -- the creation and consumption of food.  Beginning with indigenous beliefs and methods of food production, we shall explore the changing interactions between human beings and the environments of continental North America through an investigation of hunting and gathering, food distribution and preparation, agriculture, sanitation, beliefs about "natural" food and health, the "Slow Food" and Heritage Food movements, organic farming, gene modification of food organisms, and the like.  Partly the course will strive to put the current organic/agribusiness debate into historial context, encourage students to see the links between their consumption of food and environmental beliefs and practices, and to encourage consumer awareness.  Assignments may include cookbook analysis, visits to local farms, and preparation and consumption of edible "case studies."
 

Last modified 11 January 2003.