GEOG 106
CSU Chico
The American West
Instructor:
Dr. Ann Martin
cell phone 520-5178, email within BbLearn Classroom
Office Location Hours:
626 Butte Hall, M/F 3:00 - 3:30
Course Format:
75 minute participative lecture and discussion
Readings:
Glennon, Robert. 2009. Unquenchable: America’s water crisis and what to do about it. Island Press.
Washington, D.C.
Hine, Robert and John Mack Faragher. 2008. Frontiers: A Short History of the American West. Yale
University Press abridged, also available in audio-book format
And Selected readings
Course Description:
This course reviews the physical and historical cultural geography of the American West, with focus on
human-environmental relationships and the concepts of place within this region. This course is recognized
as a general education course fulfilling the society and institutions requirements within the Great Books and
Ideas and Sustainability pathways. Emphasis is placed on the unique imprint made by various cultural on
the western landscape through sustainable and non-sustainable utilization of resources. The course also
examines the current and future issues facing resource management and conservation within this region.
The general subtopics discussed in this class fit into the following five general thematic areas: physical
geography, Native American cultures, settler cultures, resource utilization and conservation/sustainability.
Course Objectives:
 To develop an appreciation of the significance of environmental relationships in the American
West.
 Consider the physical and cultural geography (e.g., landscape and people) that comprise the
American West.
 Identify key cultural groups and their relationships to the regional landscapes of the American
West.
 Interpret the major cultural groups and resource utilization patterns within the American West.
 Provide a synthesis of the interrelatedness of physical and cultural geographies of the American
West.
 Draw upon literature, film, audio, interviews and personal experience and observation of place.
Student Learning Outcomes Addressed:
 Critical thinking skills are developed via the assessment and review of materials presented and
questioning the position and validity of the ideas discussed.
 Personal and Social Responsibility by building a sense of identity with respect to the region and
the environment. Via the materials presented students will be challenged to become informed
citizens and active participants in the shaping of this region for future generations.
 Sustainability via the development of a synthesis understanding of how individual, social, and
institutional roles have influenced social and economic capacity and environmental relationships
and utilization patterns representing the past, present, and future of the American West.
 Diversity is addressed via the presentation of both physical and cultural diversity of the region.
Students will gain a synthesis understanding of the relationships between features including
linguistic and climatic diversity.
 Global Engagement through the evaluation of the region as a key contributor to global economies,
resource utilization and innovation, and social and institutional diplomacy.
Great Books and Ideas Goals Addressed:
 Demonstrates effective listening and speaking skills necessary to organize information and deliver
it effectively to the intended audience.
 Demonstrates the ability to question, investigate and draw well-reasoned conclusions and to
formulate ideas through effective written communication appropriate to the intended audience.
 Identifies issues and problems raised in written texts, visual media and other forms of discourse,
and assesses the relevance, adequacy and credibility of arguments and evidence used in reaching
conclusions.
 Demonstrates knowledge of and applies mathematical or statistical methods to describe, analyze
and solve problems in context.
 Demonstrates knowledge of and applies research techniques and information technology
appropriate to the intellectual and disciplinary context.
 Demonstrates knowledge and skills necessary to take responsibility for one's own life and actions,
and to recognize opportunities and responsibilities to become engaged in our various local,
regional, national and international communities.
 Describes and explains the environmental dynamics associated with human activities, and assesses
the value of balancing social and economic demands with the Earth’s ability to sustain physical
and biological resources and cultural diversity.
 Demonstrates an understanding of and facility with different intellectual viewpoints as well as the
unique perspectives of others based on varied experiences, identities and social attributes.
 Takes intellectual risks and applies novel approaches to varied domains.
 Demonstrates knowledge and skills necessary to engage global cultures and peoples.
Sustainability Pathway Goals Addressed:
 Recognize the physical and biological attributes, basic functioning of planetary ecosystems.
 Appreciate that sustainable economic and social systems are dependent on ecosystem goods and
services.
 Investigate how our relationship to the natural world has been shaped historically, politically,
culturally and economically.
 Comprehend and examine the controversies surrounding questions of values and ethics as they
relate to creating a sustainable future.
 Understand how religious, philosophical, literary, and cultural traditions and texts could affect our
perceptions of sustainability and vice-versa.
Assignments:
 Weekly reading, lecture, discussion (material may appear on exams).
 Reading one selected book from class list (or student selection with approval).
 Writing assignments
 Mapping assignments
 Completion of one session of class service learning exercise.
 Exams (four quizzes and a comprehensive final).
Grading:
Grades will be assigned on a straight scale based on the points earned for each assignment (See example
grade ranges below). This system will enable each student to earn a fair grade based upon the percent of
points earned on assignments rather than competing with others in the class for the top grade.
 One make-up quiz or exam will be given for excused absences only, and must be completed
within a week of returning to class.
 One late homework assignment will be accepted without an excused absence.
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




A
AB+
B
B-
Other late assignments will have 10 % deducted for each day they are late, and no assignments
will be accepted more than one week (two class days) after the due date.
All written assignments based on assigned readings will be due one week from the date assigned
unless otherwise advised.
Spelling, grammar, and composition will be considered part of the grading of major writing
assignments
Incompletes will only be considered if most of the course requirements have been fulfilled.
Written assignments should be based on primary sources, not the internet.
370-345 (0.935)
344-333 (0.90)
332-321 (0.87)
320-309 (0.835)
308-296 (0.80)
Participation and attendance
Service learning
Book reflection log
Group Work, Homework/Assignments
Four quizzes
Final exam
Total
C+
C
CD+
D
296-285 (0.77)
284-271 (0.735)
270-259 (0.70)
258-248 (0.67)
247-235 (0.635)
30
10
50
100
100
75
370
points
points
points
points
points
points
points
(8 %)
(3 %)
(13.5 %)
(27 %)
(27 %)
(20 %)
(100 %)
(Note: these values are an approximation of point allocation. Additional points for other assignments, and
extra credit assignments, may be assigned at instructor’s discretion)
Class Rules:
Aside from University policies, respect the learning environment and the opinions/contributions of others,
learn (and share what you have learned), have fun (laugh a little), and please avoid off topic conversations
and cellular phone use/text messaging during instruction.
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Selected Readings
Abbey, E. 1968. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. Ballantine Books. New York, New York
Anderson, M.K. 2005. Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of
California’s Natural Resources. University of California Press. Berkeley, California
Alt, D. and D.W. Hyndman. 2000. Roadside Geology of Northern and Central California. Mountain
Press Publishing Company. Missoula, Montana
Austin, R. 2009. Navajo Courts and Navajo Common Law: A Tradition of Tribal Self-Governance.
University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque, NM.
Barbour, M.G. and W.D. Billings eds. 2000. North American Terrestrial Vegetation. Cambridge
University Press. New York, New York
Black, C. 2010. The Land is the Source of the Law: A Diologic Encounter with Indigenous Jurisprudence.
Rutledge Press. Abingdon, Oxon
Hopkins, Sarah Winnemucca. 1883. Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims. Mrs. Horace
Mann, ed. Cupples, Upham & co., G. P. Putnam's sons, New York, New York
Margolin, M. 1993 (revised). The Way We Lived: California Indian Stories, Songs and Reminiscences.
Heyday Books. Berkeley, California
Mathews, J.J. 1934. Sundown. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman, Oklahoma
McMurtry, L. 1985. Lonesome Dove. Pocket Books. New York, New York
McPhee, J. 1993. Assembling California. The Noonday Press. New York, New York
Momaday, N.S. 1968. House Made of Dawn. Harper Collins. New York, New York
Moulton, G.E. 2003. An American Epic of Discovery: The Lewis and Clark Journals. Bison Books.
University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln, Nebraska
Nabhan, G.P and S. Trimble. 1994. The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places.
Beacon Press. Boston, Massachusetts
Paddison, J. A World Transformed: Firsthand Accounts of California Before the Gold Rush. Heyday
Books. Berkeley, California
Reisner, M. 1993 (revised). Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water. Penguin
Books. New York, New York.
Sarris, Greg. 1994. Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream. University of California Press. Berkeley,
California
Silko, L.M. 1977. Ceremony. Penguin Books. New York, New York
Stegner, W. 1954. Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the
West. Penguin Books. New York, New York
Steinbeck, J. 1939. The Grapes of Wrath. Penguin Books. New York, New York
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Wilcove, D.S. 1999. The Condor’s Shadow: The Loss and Recovery of Wildlife in America. W.H.
Freeman and Company, New York, New York
Wilkinson, C.F. 1992. The Eagle Bird: Mapping a New West. Pantheon Books. New York, New York.
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