SMC Core Curriculum Course Proposal
1. Name of proponent: Professor Myrna Santiago
2. E-Mail address: msantiag@stmarys-ca.edu
3. Department of proponent: History
4. Name of Department hosting the course: History
5. Name of Department Chair: Myrna Santiago
6. Course Information: History 155: Latin American Environmental History
7. Semester in which the course will be offered: Spring 2014
8. How often is this course taught: Every other year
9. Course prerequisites: None
10. Unit value of course: One
11. Proper audience for course: sophomores, juniors, seniors
12. The learning goals for which the course is being submitted: Social, Cultural, or
Historical Understanding
Teaching Narrative for Social, Cultural, or Historical Understanding
The course follows a case study method to analyze Latin American environmental
history. The course may cover different countries (Mexico) or geographical regions (the
Caribbean, Central America, the Andes) during different periods of history, from
colonial times to the twentieth century. I modify the readings every time I teach the
course to reflect the latest scholarship in the field. The course will emphasize the skills
and methods stressed in history, particularly collecting evidence and interpreting it. In
collecting evidence, students will be taught how to find primary and secondary sources
via library research, the specialized Latin American Environmental History online
bibliography and archive held at Cal State University Long Beach, specific Latin
American media and journals, sanctioned documentary and feature-length fictional
films, and online sources I will include in the syllabus. In terms of interpretation, the
course will teach students to use the historian’s critical lens to approach texts of all
kinds: first and foremost, historicizing every source (placing the source in its original
context and historical perios, identifying the major socio-political and economic or
cultural factors that shaped the text), identifying point of view, filtering for bias,
reading between the lines, looking for intentional or unintentional missing information
by comparing texts on the same topic, using the language of the discipline competently
(e.g., primary sources, secondary literature, periodization, historiography, history from
above and below), and being specific in the use of language (including the definition of
terms).
Learning Narrative for Social, Cultural, or Historical Understanding
The course will use oral participation and three papers to evaluate students’
performance in the three learning goals of the social, cultural, or historical
understanding pathway to knowledge. Using a Socratic method, I aim to steer oral
participation in the direction of discussing how Latin Americans saw nature and
interpreted the relationship between humans and their environments. Students thus
demonstrate that they understand how historians link causation and change orally first,
in preparation for each of their papers (the book review; the point of view paper; and
the research essay). Three writing assignments, increasing in length, focus on the
constituent parts of the learning process in history: using appropriate terms and
defining them correctly; acknowledging and identifying someone else’s point of view,
articulating that point of view accurately and fairly, locating the point of view in its
historical period and socio-political, economic, and cultural context; finding appropriate
primary and secondary sources (including those in Spanish or Portuguese for students
who can read those languages) and using them critically. The research paper allows
students to focus on their own interests by choosing the country, the historical period,
and the environmental issue they want to investigate. Students are expected to address
the major political, economic, social and intellectual factors that shaped the relationship
between humans and nature in relationship the particular geographical area and time
period chosen for the research paper. They are expected to acknowledge the limitations
of their sources and evaluate them critically as they write their own mini-environmental
histories in a persuasive essay.
Sample syllabus
Professor Myrna Santiago
Latin American Environmental History
Description. The importance of ecology cannot be denied in the twenty-first century.
But is there a history to modern environmental concerns in Latin America? This course
will approach that single question by analyzing a selection of cases from Latin
American environmental history from the colonial period into the twentieth century.
Using the latest scholarship on environmental history as our guide, we will explore
topics that may include: conservation; oil extraction; monocrop and organic
agriculture; the steroids industry; the environmental history of corn, bananas, or sugar;
nuclear power; pesticide use; hurricanes; climate; forests; national parks; whale
conservation; mining and disease. Students will read monographs and chart the social,
political, and economic forces that shaped how Latin Americans interpreted nature at
different times in history and in different countries; how their points of view shaped the
use they made of their environment and the relationship between humans and their
environments at different times and in different countries; and what sorts of problems
they encountered and created in the process, including the consequences of policies and
lack thereof for humans and nature alike.
Learning outcomes. As a result of this course, students will be able to explain what
environmental history is in general. They will also become familiar with the
terminology of the discipline of history and environmental studies, particularly ecology,
ecosystems, nature, and sustainability. Students will be able to describe the multiple
factors involved in environmental policy over time and the multiple causes behind
ecological practices in different countries at different times in history. They will also
demonstrate that they can find, identify and interpret primary sources and figure out
cause and effect in historical ecological change, in addition to articulating how Latin
Americans interpreted their environments during different times and in different
countries. Students will also continue to sharpen their critical reading skills, to develop
their expository writing skills, and to improve their research skills.
Requirements. Student participation is 25% of the grade. That means daily attendance,
active participation in class that advances the discussion and raises its intellectual
quality, and participation in two History co-curricular events over the course of the
semester. Three papers are required. The first is a 5-page book review of a book
selected by the professor (footnotes and bibliography are additional pages; instructions
attached; 20% of the grade). The second is a 7 page analytical piece articulating how
Latin Americans have understood nature and environmental matters during specific
times in history (footnotes and bibliography are additional pages; instructions attached;
20% of the grade). The third is a 10-page research paper on an environmental issue that
affects a specific Latin American country, identifying and interpreting primary sources
in addition to using the secondary literature (35% of the grade). Deadlines for research
proposal, bibliography, thesis, and outline are noted in the class schedule. Please note
that Wikipedia is banned in this class. Internet sources must be scholarly. Drafts of
papers are highly encouraged. Re-writes are not allowed, but may be required by the
professor in some cases. Paper due dates are not flexible.
Note on plagiarism. Make sure you are intimately familiar with what plagiarism is. If
you plagiarize, even unintentionally, you will not only fail the course, but also face
disciplinary action. Check your student handbook for definitions and information
about plagiarism at Saint Mary’s.
Policy regarding disabilities:
Student Disability Services extends reasonable and appropriate accommodations that
take into account the context of the course and its essential elements, for individuals
with qualifying disabilities. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the
Student Disability Services Director at (925) 631-4164 to set up a confidential
appointment to discuss accommodation guidelines and available services. Additional
information regarding the services available may be found at the following address on
the Saint Mary’s website: http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/academics/academic-advisingand-achievement/student-disability-services.html
Class etiquette. Education is a formal, serious, and professional affair. Therefore,
classroom demeanor must be up to par: no tardiness, no early departures, no food
(drinks are fine), no cell phones. Agreement on ideas is by no means expected, but
respect for each other’s opinions is required.
Readings: (Note to core curriculum committee: these will change depending on the geographic
focus of the course any given semester)
On Latin America as a whole:
Shawn Miller, An Environmental History of Latin America
Alfred Crosby, The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of
1492
Noble Cook, Born to Die: Disease and New World Conquest, 1492-1650
Richard P. Tucker, Insatiable Appetite: The United States and the Ecological
Degradation of the Tropical World
On the Andes:
Mark Carey, In the Shadow of Melting Glaciers: Climate Change and Andean Society
Nicholas A. Robins, Mercury, Mining, and Empire: The Human and Ecological Cost of
Colonial Silver Mining in the Andes
On Central America:
John Soluri, Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change
in Honduras and the United States
On the Caribbean:
Reinaldo Funes Monzote, From Rainforest to Cane Field in Cuba: An Environmental
History since 1492
Sherry Johnson, Climate and Catastrophe in Cuba and the Atlantic World in the Age of
Revolution
Louis Perez, Jr. Winds of Change: Hurricanes and the Transformation of NineteenthCentury Cuba
J. R. McNeill, Mosquito Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1620-1914
Stuart McCook, States of Nature: Science, Agriculture, and Environment in the Spanish
Caribbean, 1760-1940
On Mexico:
Velma Garcia-Gorena, Mothers and the Mexican Antinuclear Power Movement
Elinor Melville, A Plague of Sheep: Environmental Consequences of the Conquest of
Mexico
Serge Dedina, Saving the Gray Whale: People, Politics, and Conservation in Baja
California
Lane Simonean, Defending the Land of the Jaguar: A History of Conservation in
Mexico
Myrna Santiago, The Ecology of Oil: Environment, Labor, and the Mexican Revolution,
1900-1938
Angus Wright, The Death of Ramón González: The Modern Agricultural Dilemma,
Gabriela Soto Laveaga, Jungle Laboratories: Mexican Peasants, National Projects, and
the Making of the Pill
Arturo Warman, Corn Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard Grew to Global Dominance
Emily Wakild, Revolutionary Parks: Conservation, Social Justice, and Mexico’s National Parks,
1910-1940
(Note to core curriculum committee: Class Schedule is omitted because the readings will change
depending on the countries covered in any given semester)
Assignments:
I. Book Review. Write a book review of book selected by the professor. The book
review will be a minimum of 5 pages of text (double space, 12-size font, 1 inch margins).
Notes and bibliography are additional. The book review contains the following
components:
1. Summary of the book. This component is the first, and it provides the reader with a
summary of the entire book. In the first paragraph of this section, you will identify the
argument the author makes, explaining his/her thesis, why is the author writing this
book, what is he/she trying to convey, why does she/he think the topic is important.
In the second paragraph, you will explain what the main points of each chapter are. In
the third paragraph you will tell the reader what conclusions the author reached. Do
not quote directly from the book, but do note page numbers in footnotes as necessary.
2. Examination of sources and point of view. In this section, describe what kinds of
sources the author utilized in the book and where they came from. Explain how much
the author relied on primary sources and how much she/he relied on secondary
sources. Explain as well if the author represented a Latin American point of view or
only his/her own.
2. Evaluation and critique. In this section you will evaluate two different aspects of the
book in separate paragraphs: the strengths and the weaknesses. For each part, explain
why you think some parts are strengths and why some are weaknesses. Some
questions to guide the evaluation may be: what would you like to have read more or
less of? What else might the author have included? Was there something that was
misleading or incomplete? Is the argument convincing or not?
3. Recommendation. In this last paragraph, make a recommendation about whether the
book is worth reading and why or why not. If you recommend it, explain what
audience should read this book and why.
4. Footnotes go at the end (“endnotes” in computer parlance). The bibliography is the
last page.
II. Analytical Paper.
Write 7 pages of text answering the following questions: How did Latin Americans
interpret nature and the relationship between humans and their environments in the
colonial period, the 19th century, and the 20th century? What changed over time? What
continuities remained? Footnotes go at the end of the paper (“endnotes” in your
computer program); the bibliography is the last page.
III. Research paper: Writing your own Environmental History
Write 10 pages of text investigating any environmental issue affecting a Latin American
country in the past or the present. Consult with the professor on topics and sources.
The components of the paper are as follows:
1. Research proposal. This is a one-page assignment where you write one
paragraph (single spaced) explaining what question you are going to answer,
why, how might you answer that question, and what types of sources you are
going to use. You will also speculate about what answers you think you might
find.
2. Bibliography. This is a one-page list of all the sources you have found up to the
date when the assignment is due. Your sources should include primary sources,
academic journals, chapters from books, books, and news sources. Web sources
that are none of the above must be checked with me first, explaining how and
why you want to use each specific site. For a 10-page paper, you need at least 10
different sources.
3. Thesis and outline. The thesis is one sentence that summarizes the argument you
will make for the whole paper. Outline the sections that will comprise the paper,
including paragraphs if possible.
4. A full draft of the paper is due on x date, for feedback and direction.
5. The final paper is due on the day and time of our final exam.