Mark Stemen
GEOG 106: The American West
Butte 541/ x5428
mstemen@csuchico.edu
Fall 2009
Office Hours: MWF 1-2
Course Description
GEOG 106 covers the geography of the American West, emphasizing how the economic
and political institutions of various cultural groups have each made a unique imprint on
the western landscape. It is an approved General Education course.
But this version of the course is also much more than that. The Western United States is
a physical region extending from the Pacific Ocean to roughly the 98th meridian. The
“American West,” however, is not as neat and tidy. Take just one example, the two men
historians consider the greatest “western” presidents in American history: Andrew
Jackson and Ronald Reagan. Andrew Jackson was elected President in 1828, after
serving as a Senator from the “western” state of Tennessee. His election, know as the
Jacksonian Revolution, signaled a shift in political power westward away from the
original thirteen colonies. At the time, California was not even part of United States. In
1980, when America elected former California Governor Ronald Reagan President and
launched the Reagan Revolution (with its attack on the federal government’s meddling
presence in the American West) no one in the country considered Tennessee as part of
the region.
Where then is the West?
I have chosen to highlight how “The West” is as much a process as a place, in part to play
to my strength as a historical geographer, but I also think it is more interesting. This
class will explore how the region has had different meanings for different people at
different times, and the course requirements are geared toward helping students
appreciate the diversity of people and places that constitute the American West.
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Course Readings
Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West
Alt and Hyndman, Roadside Geology of Northern and Central California
Course Objectives
 To introduce students to the physical and cultural features of the American
West
 Introduce students to the American West as a region with both spatial and
temporal components.
 Provide students with an economic and political framework to help them
understand how and why the region and its inhabitants changed over the past
400 years.
 Provide students the opportunity to “do geography,” as well as the opportunity
to improve their critical thinking and their writing skills.
Course Requirements
6 quizzes
10 two-page journals
1 three-page field assignment
1 journey map and travel plan
1 three-page final journal
Total
180 pts
300 pts
200 pts
300 pts
30 pts
1000 pts
Grade Point Scale
1000 - 930 A
929 - 900 A-
899 - 870
869 - 830
829 - 800
B+
B
B-
799 - 770
769 - 730
729 - 700
2
C+
C
C-
699-670
669-630
629-600
D+
D
D-
Course Format
There is a map quiz on various features of the American West every week for the first six
weeks. These quizzes are designed to expand your “mental map” of the American West.
Acquiring a bunch of place names and their location is not the major focus of this class,
however. I am more concerned with how you think about the American West, than what
you think about it. I designed the class so we can discuss and expand on the same
geographic concepts throughout the semester. Since writing is thinking on paper, we
will spend a majority of the class focusing on your written work.
Every week you will write a two-page journal on that week’s assignment. I comment on
these journals, but I do not grade them. If it appears to me that you have done the
reading, and spent some time thinking about it, you receive full credit. I assign this
exercise to get you into the habit of writing about what you read. Journals are due the
week they are assigned.
You will also write two more formal essays throughout the term. These essays will be
graded. The first essay will describe a field experience you will undertake. The second
essay will require you to design a road trip (within a strict set of parameters), and draw a
map of your intended journey. Additional directions will follow.
You complete these projects one step at a time. You can begin writing in your weekly
journals. You will write a rough draft, and I and/or your peers will comment on it.
(Failure to write a rough draft will result in a thirty-point deduction.) Your final draft is
due the following week, allowing you ample time to revise your work before any of it is
graded.
This class is a process as much as anything so I expect you to attend every day. But, I
realize things do come up. Everyone is allowed one unexcused absence. After that each
subsequent absence will lower your overall total by ten points. Not missing class all
semester is hard to do and an effort I wish to reward. So, if you never miss a class, you
earn ten points extra credit.
As required, I will also host a culminating event.
If you have a disability of any type that makes it difficult for you to complete any of
above the course work please let me know and I will work with you to resolve the
difficulty.
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Weekly reading assignments and course work deadlines
August 24 – The 411
Syllabus
August 26 – The American West
Paragraph Due
August 28 – Furlough Day (no class)
Moving From Trails to Rails
August 31 – What is Geography and where is “the West”
Quiz 1: United States
September 2 – Places and Regions
Limerick, Introduction
Journal #1 due
September 4 – The West: The People
September 7 – Labor Day (no class)
September 9 – Crossing the Craton
Quiz 2: Mountains and Rivers
September 11 – Assembling California
Alt and Hyndman, pp. 1-24
Journal # 2 due
September14 – First Nations
Quiz 3: Lakes, Bays, and Assorted Features
September 16 – The New Western History
Limerick, Chapter 1
Journal # 3 due
September 18 – The Donner Party
September 21 – The Called Out People
No Quiz
September 23 –Beyond the 100th Meridian
Limerick, Chapter 3
Journal # 4 due
September 25 – Furlough Day (no class)
September 28 – The “F” Word
Quiz 4: Cities and Towns
September 30 – The Urban Frontier
Limerick, Chapter 4
Journal # 4 due
October 2 – The West: Speck of the Future
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October 5 – The Spanish Frontier
Quiz 5: Missions and Forts
October 7 – Jesus and the Corn Mothers
Limerick, Chapter 6
Journal # 5 due
October 9 – The West: The Grandest Enterprise Under God
October 12 – The Trans-Appalachian West
Quiz 6: National Parks and Historical Monuments
October 14 – – The Indispensable Enemy
Limerick, Chapters 8
Journal # 6 due
October 16 – The West: Geography of Hope
October 19 – Cowboy Ecology
Rough Draft Due in Class
October 21 – The Extractive West
Limerick, Chapter 7
Journal # 7 due
October 23 – The West: One Sky Above Us
October 26 – The Federal West
October 28 –Reclaiming the West
Limerick, Chapter 5
Journal # 8 due
October 30 – Furlough Day (no class)
Field Exercise Due by 5pm in Butte 507
November 2 – Furlough Day (no class)
November 4 – Touring the West
November 6 – Attend This Way to Sustainability Conference
November 9 – Engendering the West
November 11 – Veterans Day (no class)
November 13 – The Dust Bowl: Okie as “Other”
Limerick, Chapter 9
Journal # 9 due
November 16 – The Suburban West
Rough Map Due in Class
November 18 –The Atomic West
Limerick, Chapter 10
Journal # 10 due
November 20 – Furlough Day (no class)
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November 23 – No Class
November 25 – No Class
November 27 – No Class
November 30 – The Cinematic West
December 2 – Making Myth and Legend
Movie: Stagecoach
Extra Credit Due
December 4 – Discussion
Rough Draft Due in Class
Movie: Stagecoach
December 7 – A Classic Western
Movie: High Noon
December 9 – Red Scare and the West
Movie: High Noon
Road Trip Essay Due
December 11 – Furlough Day (no class)
December 16 – Final Culminating Event
@ 10am
Final Journal Due
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