The memorable landscapes of childhood and youth may directly shape adult values by influencing one’s interpretation of current environments.
In this assignment, you are to identify one outdoor environment from your childhood or youth that is important to your own value system and/or is associated with fond memories. Integrating ideas from at least four different class readings, write an essay depicting important and valued meanings you associate with the environment of your past. Briefly identify the environment in both objective (e.g., Where is it? What did you do there?) and subjective (e.g., How did you feel in it?) terms
.The major portion of the essay should be an explanation of your personal environmental meanings that applies conceptual material from class.
Requirements
In this assignment, you are required to develop an “Environmental Autobiography” which allows you the opportunity to express your own personal views and values toward nature and natural landscapes.
All papers should be double spaced, 12 point font (Times New Roman) with 1-inch margins and include a cover page.
The text of the paper should be 450 to 500 words in length excluding the cover page and reference page.four class reading objectives:
Upon completing this lesson, you should be:
Familiar with common definitions for nature, landscapes, and culture.
Familiar with various views of nature across different continents prior to the settlement of America.
Able to understand the influence of the European culture on the early America settlers’ view toward nature.
Able to identify the role of artists and writers in describing nature.
Able to understand personal values associated with nature and natural landscapes.
Objectives
To understand the impact of European settlers in shaping the view of nature in the New World.
To become familiar with the role of artists and writers in portraying nature in the New World.
To understand emerging factors that began changing American’s view toward nature.
To understand how America used nature to form a national identity—nationalism.
To continue to think about (develop) your own personal values and views toward nature and natural landscapes.
Objectives
To understand why the 19th century is known as an era of exploitation of America’s natural resources/nature/etc.
To identify the factors for America’s westward expansion.
To identify the impact of Transcendentalism on America’s view toward nature.
To understand how painters influenced an appreciation for wildness.
To be able to explain America’s shift toward an appreciation of nature toward the end of the 19th century.
To continue developing your own personal values and views toward nature and natural landscapes.
Objectives
To identify the arguments that led to a concern for the viability of America’s natural resources during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
To explain the circumstances surrounding the establishment of Yellowstone National Park—America’s first National Park in 1872.
To understand different philosophies for managing natural resources.
To identify the contributions of John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and Theodore Roosevelt to the protection/management of nature and natural resources.
To describe the battle for Hetch-Hetchy.
To identify the impact of the Hetch-Hetchy decision on the long-term protection of National Parks.
To continue developing your own personal values and views toward nature, natural landscapes, and land management perspectives.
we are reading this book at this semester “Wilderness and the American Mind”
Requirements: 450-500
