Land Stories, Land Rights

Humans have long identified with the land on which they live. Yet different people tell different stories of themselves, their histories, their relations with the land and the land itself. Whose stories are heard while others are silenced? How do told and untold stories affect access and rights to land or decisions about land use? This course will explore cases from around the world, examining debates surrounding U.S. national parks, conflicts involving religion, gender and land rights, and questions of indigenous rights versus economic development. Theories from anthropology, history, human rights and agrarian studies will inform our explorations of these controversies. REA, WRI, PRS, PRJ, MCP

Goals of the Course

 * Develop critical thinking, reading and writing skills through close examination of differing interpretations of people’s relationships with land and how their stories are told or not told.
 * Develop analytical skills as students learn to approach complex environmental issues and concepts of land from interdisciplinary and multiple theoretical angles.
 * Increase students’ awareness of the influence of culture, history, politics and economics on approaches to ecological problems and how people conceive of and represent their relationship with land.
 * Go beyond tendencies to idealize stereotyped cultural approaches to ecological issues to understand the full cultural, socio-political and historical contexts within which these approaches are developed and implemented.
 * Strengthen research, reading, writing and presentation skills through a series of written and oral assignments designed to challenge students to develop their own critical approaches and analyses.
 * Conceive and complete project-based work in the form of individual research projects.

Assignments:
Assignments include reading, writing, class presentations and project-based work. I expect readings to be done thoughtfully and critically before the class date for which each assignment is listed as discussion is largely based on the readings. Students will be expected to participate in and occasionally run discussions.

All articles are available online through the course web site (under Readings and in the daily Syllabus) and on Reserve in the Hampshire College Library. You should make copies of the readings and bring them with you to class the day we are discussing them. The one required book is available through the Hampshire College Bookstore, and also on Reserve.


 * Kane, Joe. 1996. Savages. Vintage Books.

Written Assignments: All written assignments are due at the beginning of the class for which they are listed below. I do not accept late papers without prior permission. Papers must be typed, double-spaced and proofread, with page numbers. Please plan ahead for printing your papers so that you don’t have last minute computer problems. You should always spell-check and proofread your assignments before turning them in.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s ideas or words as if they were your own, without acknowledging the source. Plagiarism is a serious offence, and can result in either No Evaluation for the course or even disciplinary withdrawal from the College. As you write your papers, you must be sure to cite your sources thoroughly and correctly, whether you are quoting directly or paraphrasing. Ignorance of plagiarism is not an excuse. If you are ever uncertain as to whether doing something is technically plagiarism, you should ask. You should also consult with writing reference manuals for correct citation and bibliographic formats, including for citing Internet sources.

Evaluations: To receive an evaluation for the course, you must complete all assignments on time and make satisfactory progress on the course learning goals. I expect a lot of writing and class participation. If you miss more than two class meetings without a good reason, you may not get a good evaluation. (If you miss a significant number of class meetings, you may not get an evaluation.) Remember: Communication with me about your status in the class can help you meet the course goals and do well in this course. I do not give Incompletes unless negotiated before assignment due dates, including the final paper and portfolio.

Concepts &amp; Questions
Weds., Sept. 3: Introduction

Mon., Sept 8:


 * Di Chiro, Giovanna. 1996. “Nature as Community: The Convergence of Environment and Social Justice.” In William Cronon, ed. Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. NY: W.W. Norton &amp; Co. Pp. 298-531.

·Assignment: Found Objects Essay due in class.

Oil in the Amazon: Whose Rain Forest?
Weds., Sept. 10: Control of the Amazon


 * Kane, Joe. Savages. Prologue &amp; Part I. Pp. 3-78.

Mon., Sept. 15: Amazon, con’t


 * Kane, Savages, Part II. Pp. 79-161.

Weds., Sept. 17: Amazon, con’t.


 * Kane, Savages, Part III. Pp. 163-255.

Mon., Sept. 22: Amazon, con’t.


 * ·Sawyer, Suzanna. 2003. “Subterranean Techniques: Corporate Environmentalism, Oil Operations, and Social Injustice in the Ecuadorian Rain Forest.” In Candace Slater, ed. In Search of the Rain Forest. Durham: Duke University Press. Pp. 69-100.
 * Fedick, Scott. 2003. “In Search of the Maya Forest.” In Candace Slater, ed. In Search of the Rain Forest. Durham: Duke University Press. Pp. 133-164.

How Nature is Defined.
Weds., Sept. 24: Wilderness Thinking.


 * Cronon, William. 1995. “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” In William Cronon, ed. Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. New York: W.W. Norton &amp; Company. Pp. 69-90.

Mon., Sept. 29: Project Planning – meet with your project group.


 * Assignment due in class.

Weds., Oct. 1: Making New England


 * Bruchac, Margaret. 2005. “Earthshapers and Placemakers.” In H. Martin Wobst &amp; Claire Smith, eds. Indigenous Archaeologies. Routledge. Pp. 1-16.
 * Halttunen, Karen. 2002. “Mountain Christenings: Landscape and Memory in Edward Hitchcock’s New England.” In Peter Benes, ed. New England Celebrates: Spectacle, Commemoration, and Festivity. Boston: Boston University Press. Pp. 166-177.

Local Landscapes – Group Projects
Mon., Oct. 6: Group Presentations

Weds., Oct. 8: Group Presentations Sat., Oct. 11 - Tues., Oct. 14: October Break

Weds., Oct. 15: Annie Nichol


 * tba
 * Retrospective essay on group presentation due.

Fri, Oct. 17: Research Proposal and Annotated Preliminary Bibliography due in my box in SS by 3 p.m.


 * Conflicting Symbolism

Mon., Oct. 20: Multiple Australias


 * Strang, Veronica. 2005. “Knowing Me, Knowing You: Aboriginal and European Concepts of Nature as Self and Other.” Worldviews 9(1):25-56.

Weds., Oct. 22: Contesting Tradition


 * Bronner, Simon J. 2005. “Contesting Tradition: The Deep Play and Protest of Pigeon Shoots.” Journal of American Folklore 118(470)409-452.

Land and Property Concepts
Mon., Oct 27: Defining Property Rights


 * ·Roseman, Marina. 2003. “Singers of the Landscape: Song, History, and Property Rights in the Malaysian Rainforest.” In Charles Zerner, ed. Culture and the Question of Rights: Forests, Coasts, and Seas in Southeast Asia. Durham: Duke University Press. Pp. 109-141.

Weds., Oct. 29: Indigenous Ownership and Representation


 * ·Konkle, Maureen. 2008. “Indigenous Ownership and the Emergence of U.S. Liberal Imperialism.” American Indian Quarterly 32(3):297-323.
 * Nelson, Melissa. 2006. “Raven, Storms, and the Ecological Indian at the National Museum of the American Indian.” Wicaso SA Review. Fall. 41-60.

Mon., Nov. 3: Tara McLaughlin.


 * tba.
 * Research paper background essay due.

Weds., Nov. 5: Advising Day, No Class.

Mon., Nov. 10: Indigenous Property Rights


 * Dannenmaier, Eric. Forthcoming 2008. “Beyond Indigenous Property Rights: The Distinctive Connection of the Dispossessed.” Washington University Law Review 86. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1115340.

Weds., Nov. 12: Water Conflicts


 * Strang, Veronica. 2005. “Water Works: Agency and Creativity in the Mitchell River Catchment.” The Australian Journal of Anthropology 16(3):366-381.
 * DeJong, David H. 2007. “’The Sword of Damocles?’ The Gila River Indian Community Water Settlement Act of 2004 in Historical Perspective.” Wicaso SA Review. Fall. 57-92.

Development and Concepts of Land:

Mon., Nov. 17: Chavez Ravine


 * Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story web site with Don Normark’s photographs
 * Watch flash animation on Chavez Ravine.
 * Walter O’Malley’s version of the history of Dodger Stadium
 * Gostin, Lawrence O. 2006. “Property Rights and the Common Good.” Hastings Center Report September-October: 10-11.

Weds., Nov. 19: Pema Dorjee


 * Draft of Research Paper due. Bring two copies – one for the professor, one for a classmate to do a peer review.

Mon., Nov. 24: Peer Review of Research Paper Drafts.

Weds., Nov. 26 - Sun, Nov. 30: Thanksgiving Break.

Conclusions
Mon., Dec. 1: Eden, Wilderness, and Green Development.


 * Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt. 1999. “Becoming a Tribal Elder, and Other Green Development Fantasies.” In Tania Murray Li, ed. Transforming the Indonesian Uplands. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers. Pp. 159-202.
 * O’Brien, William E. 2002. "The Nature of Shifting Cultivation: Stories of Harmony, Degradation, and Redemption." Human Ecology 30(4):483-502.

Weds., Dec 3: Developing environmental values and stories of the land


 * Gold, Ann Grodzins. 2002. “Children and Trees in North India.” Worldviews 6(3):276-299.

Mon., Dec. 8: Environmentalism created – where do we go next?


 * Dunaway, Finis. 2008. “Gas Masks, Pogo, and the Ecological Indian: Earth Day and the Visual Politics of American Environmentalism.” American Quarterly 67-99.

Weds., Dec. 10: Conclusions