Published on GEOG 430: Human Use of Environment (https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430)

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Week 3 - What is Nature?

The links below provide an outline of the material for this lesson. Be sure to carefully read through the entire lesson before returning to Canvas to submit your assignments.

Introduction

This week we focus on building a foundation of knowledge about how we think about and relate to Nature, and why it matters. The readings and film will demonstrate that our ideas about Nature - what it is, what we want it to be, what our role as humans is in relation to it - have a profound impact on the world around us.

The first item is a reading by an influential geographer and environmental historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, William Cronon. [1] His research seeks to understand the history of human interactions with the natural world: how we depend on the ecosystems around us to sustain our material lives, how we modify the landscapes in which we live and work, and how our ideas of nature shape our relationships with the world around us.

The second item is a film featuring narration by another prominent thinker on the environment, Michael Pollan [2]. He takes a creative approach to understanding human-environment relations and asks us to reconsider how much control we humans have over the process of crop cultivation and domestication.

Assignments Due During Week 3:

  • Read the lesson material and watch the film.
  • Take the Week 3 Quiz on Canvas (by Tuesday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time).
  • Submit your first Current Event Essay (by Thursday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time).
  • Begin thinking about your final essay topic and thesis statement (these will be due in Week 4).

Check the calendar in Canvas for specific due dates.

Materials for Week 3

  • William Cronon. (1995). Foreword and Introduction: In Search of Nature. Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. pp. 19-56.
  • Michael Schwarz and Edward Gray (directors) (2009).The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World [documentary]. USA: Kikim Media.

Week 3 Objectives:

At the end of this week, you should be able to:

  • identify and compare different ways of defining "Nature," including:
    • Nature as naive reality,
    • Nature as moral imperative,
    • Nature as Eden,
    • Nature as artifice,
    • Nature as virtual reality,
    • Nature as commodity, and
    • Nature as avenging angel;
  • explain and contextualize the motivations of a more "self-critical environmentalism;"
  • discuss the implications of Michael Pollan's argument that plants have evolved to shape human behavior;
  • give examples of how ideas of Nature can influence human use of the environment, and explain why it is important to carefully consider different ways of defining and understanding Nature; and
  • explain how human use of environments and natural resources might change if we understand them as influential actors in environmental change.

Let's dive in!

Cronon, "In Search of Nature"

William Cronon (1995). Foreword and Introduction: In Search of Nature. Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. pp. 19-56.

We'll begin with the forward and introduction to Cronon's edited volume Uncommon Ground (this reading is located in the Week 3 Module in Canvas). This book brings together thoughts from prominent historians, scientists, and philosophers about, as the book's title states, how to "rethink the human place in nature." The book argues that "nature" is a human idea with a long and contested history, and that we must understand this history very well if we seek to use and live with the environment in a conscious and responsible way. In Cronon's words:

“At a time when threats to the environment have never been greater, it may be tempting to believe that people need to be mounting the barricades rather than asking abstract questions about the human place in nature. Yet without confronting such questions, it will be hard to know which barricades to mount, and harder still to persuade large numbers of people to mount them with us. To protect the nature that is all around us, we must think long and hard about the nature we carry inside our heads" (Cronon 1995: 22).

As you read, consider the following questions:

  • Cronon (1995) states that "as soon as we label something as 'natural,' we attach to it the powerful implication that to change it from its current state would degrade and damage the way it is "supposed" to be," (20). Can you think of examples of this labeling that you encounter in your own daily life?
  • What ideas of nature covered in this reading resonate with your own views? Which ones seem strange to you?
  • Why is Cronon concerned about the concept of "human nature" and how it is used?
  • Do you think that the criticisms presented in this reading help or hinder particular environmental protection efforts? Why?

Film: "Botany of Desire"

Flowers. Trees. Plants. We've always thought that we've controlled them. But what if, in fact, they have been shaping us? Using this provocative question as a jumping off point, The Botany of Desire takes viewers on an exploration of our relationship with the plant world – seen from the plants' point of view.

Image of the cover of the book The Botany of Desire. [3]
Credit: PBS [4]

School children often learn about the mutually beneficial relationship between honeybees and flowers. To make their honey, the bees collect the flowers' nectar and in the process spread pollen, which enables the flowers to reproduce. The Botany of Desire proposes that people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. "We don't give nearly enough credit to plants," says Pollan. "They've been working on us – they've been using us – for their own purposes."

The Botany of Desire examines this relationship by telling the stories of four plants that ensured their survival and expanded their habitat by satisfying our most basic yearnings. Connecting fundamental human desires for sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control with the plants that satisfy them – the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato – The Botany of Desire intends to show that we humans don't stand outside the web of nature; we are very much a part of it.

The program begins with Pollan in a California garden and sets off to roam the world – from the potato fields of Idaho and Peru to the apple orchards of New England and Kazakhstan; from a medical marijuana hot house to the lush tulip gardens of the Netherlands.

Click here for further information regarding The Botany of Desire [5].

The Penn State University Libraries provides access to stream the film. To access the film, head to https://libraries.psu.edu [6] and enter "The Botany of Desire" into the search field. Then select the online film option (should be the second item) and follow the links to view the film.

As you watch the film, consider the following questions:

  • Pollan asks us to reconsider who has been domesticating whom in the co-evolution of humans and plants. Can you imagine ways in which your own daily life has been shaped and influenced by the plants (and animals!) that you encounter, consume, and have a relationship with?
  • What ideas of nature do you see Pollan agreeing or disagreeing with? (Think back to the different conceptions of nature discussed in the Cronon reading.)
  • Why is it important to think seriously about the agency of plants, and of nature?
  • How do you think the ideas presented in this film might help to empower or inform conservation efforts?
  • What kinds of agriculture and food systems can you think of (including examples from around the world presented in the film) that recognize and protect plant diversity?

Final Essay Information

Final Essay and Components

During the semester, you will complete one final essay on a topic of your choosing. The topic should fit into the content we are covering in this course (Social Construction of Nature, Overpopulation and Scarcity, Commodity Chains, Food and Waste Consumption, Environmental Health, Environmental Justice, Resource Extraction, Conservation, or Climate Change). The final essay assignment will be divided into five components worth a total of 410 points toward your final grade.

For the final essay, you are asked to write a 3000-3500 word paper that documents a topic and proposes a resolution to a place-based problem/challenge surrounding human uses of the environment. The goal is for you to address a real-world issue using the skills you have learned and perspectives you have gained in the course. You will propose a topic, write smaller components throughout the semester, receive feedback from your classmates and instructor, and submit a final paper at the end of the course. The goal of submitting pieces of your final paper throughout the course is designed to give you feedback and ultimately help you write a stronger final paper. The paper will be due at the end of the course.

  1. Topic and Thesis Statement:
    In week 4, students will submit their chosen topic and thesis statement for instructor approval. The topic should be narrow (not something as broad as global climate change, for example, but perhaps some particular case study of climate change in a particular place).
  2. Annotated Bibliography:
    In week 7, students will submit an annotated bibliography that summarizes some of the literature they will be drawing on for the final paper (approx. 2-3 pages double spaced). The annotated bibliography should include at least 10 resources that the student intends on using in their final paper, and a 2-3 sentence summarization of each resource. Registered students can access an example annotated bibliography in the Lesson 6 module in Canvas.
  3. Outline:
    In week 10, students will submit an outline for their final essay which briefly summarizes the argument and information that will be covered in the final essay.
  4. Feedback to fellow classmates:
    In weeks 4, 7, and 10, students will submit all of the above components of the final essay to Canvas, and are required to provide feedback and suggestions to two of their peers. This way, students will receive detailed feedback from their classmates, as well as the instructor, leading to overall stronger essays at the end of the course.
  5. Final Essay:
    At the end of the course, students will submit a final essay that offers a complex analysis and discussion of their chosen topic. The final document should be between 3000-3500 words. It should be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.docx). The essay should be accompanied by a works cited page, and all sources should be referenced correctly throughout the essay. Since this is a research paper, students are expected to find outside, scholarly sources, beyond the readings assigned in this course.

Consider reading the Essay Tips [7] page for a list of things to consider while drafting your essay.

The instructor will remind students of upcoming dates for submitting essay components throughout the course.

Points for the final project will be distributed as follows:

Points distribution for Final Essay
Activity Points
Topic/Thesis (Week 4) 50
Bibliography (Week 7) 50
Paper Outline (Week 10) 50
Providing Feedback to Classmates
  • Topic/Thesis
  • Bibliography
  • Outline
60
  • 20 points
  • 20 points
  • 20 points
Final Essay Due (Week 12) 200

Deliverable (due in week 4)

Begin thinking about your final essay topic and thesis statement (these will be due in Week 4) .

Before Wednesday of week 4, please submit your Final Essay Topic/Thesis Statement. Your assignment should be submitted as a Word document or PDF file. Check the calendar for specific due dates.

NOTE:
If your submission is late, you will NOT be assigned anyone to peer review and you will miss out on the 20 available peer review points. Also, no one will review your work, so please be on time.

Peer Reviews:
After the Tuesday night due date has passed for your initial Topic/Thesis Statement, please return to the Final Essay Component: Topic/Thesis Statement assignment page in the Week 4 module in Canvas and click on the "Peer Review" link to see who you have been assigned to peer review.

 

Week 3 Assignments

This week, you've been asked to think about different ways of defining nature and about how nature (and ideas of nature) influence human use of the environment.

Assignments:

  • Read and watch the film Botany of Desire.
  • Quiz Week 3: 10 questions, worth two points each, that will cover key points from the film and the readings. This quiz will be available to you when the Week 3 content becomes available. The quiz will have an enforced time limit of 25 min. Complete by Tuesday of week 3 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time.
  • Submit your Current Event Essay 1 by Thursday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time.
  • Begin thinking about your final essay topic and thesis statement (these will be due in Week 4).

All assignments will be submitted in Canvas, check the calendar in Canvas for specific due dates.


Source URL: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430/node/112

Links
[1] http://williamcronon.net/
[2] http://michaelpollan.com/
[3] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430/book/export/html/112
[4] http://video.pbs.org/video/1283872815/
[5] http://www.pbs.org/thebotanyofdesire/
[6] https://libraries.psu.edu
[7] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430/266