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HISTORICAL ECOLOGY
ANTH4010/6010
Fall 2007

Dr. Robert Rhoades
Jim Veteto (Teaching Assistant)

Office Phone: 542-1042
Email : rrhoades with at uga dot edu
jv61598@uga.edu (phone contact—use only if can’t reach otherwise: 706-201-6736).
Classroom: Baldwin Hall 264, Agrarian Connections Farm, and “on the road”
Class Time: 2:00-5:00, Monday

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will explore the principles of human impact through time on ecological landscapes and how these principles can guide contemporary and future communities in the design of sustainable agricultural systems. Using interdisciplinary methods borrowed from oral history, archival science, historical archeology, ecology, and agricultural anthropology, this class will explore the historical ecology of a farm located along Golden Grove Creek, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Several UGA classes in the past have focused on this same area as a part of a long-term plan to re-create a historical education farm dedicated to sustainable living. Students in earlier classes have reconstructed the ownership of the farm from the 1790s to the present, written histories of specific periods, conducted ethnobotanical surveys of useful plants, helped erect historical log buildings and even implemented the first community-support agriculture (CSA) program in the Athens area. We have envisioned a “trail of time” with four interpretive farming sites: Native American, Pioneer (circa 1800), Yeoman (1875-1960), and a Sustainable Farm of today. See Agrarian Connections webpage at www.lanra.uga.edu/rhoades/agconn/.

All prior classes focused on the farm have been student directed and inspired. This class will be no exception. Your role will be to immerse yourself in both the history and ecology of rural landscapes as a learning exercise for sustainable living. We will use the window of the farm to teach basic ecological processes which can also serve as personal lessons for living. For example, we will have several classes on diversity and why the maintenance of diversity is necessary for a healthy natural and human ecosystem. One class will focus on why crop biodiversity is necessary for a sustainable food supply while another class will look at how heritage livestock can play a role in sustainable landscape management. Other human-environment topics we will study through the farm’s “window” are resilience, localization and globalization, self-sufficiency/reliance, indigenous knowledge, to mention a few. As in the past, the class will also be taught through the theme of the cabin or log home in terms of agroecology, material culture, and the social meaning of life during most of the historical period of the farm.
See Georgia Log Cabin project webpage at www.logcabin.uga.edu/cabins/.

COURSE ORGANIZATION AND REQUIREMENTS

This class will require a great deal of self motivation and self direction. Each student must attend ALL classes (we meet only one afternoon a week), participate in field events, read and discuss all readings (3 assigned books plus additional reading). Each student will select a subsystem of the local agricultural-livelihood system, research its historical ecological nature using techniques of “nearby anthropology (history)”, and write a paper complete with illustrations and photographs. You will also prepare a “living history” demonstration for the class based on library research, interviews “oldtimers” or visit a living history farm or fair. The demonstrations will begin about mid-semester and will be highlighted during the Georgia Pioneer Heritage Day on November 19 (re-enactment with period dress). Finally, you will be required to “integrate” your subsystem with those of your colleagues and discuss in your findings on what from the past can be realistically kept for sustainable living in the future. Please be warned that this class will require that we spend extra time outside of class at the cabin site as well as in museums, antique shops, archives, visiting old homesteads and living history farms and other field activities.

Requirements
You grade will be based on six activities in the course (see below for grade weights):
• A final written paper with illustrations (15-20 pages in length) using historical ecology. You might select one “subsystem” centered around the pioneer log cabin (can also include the woods, plants, fields, gardens, or fireside systems) and carry out original reconstruction research. The paper can deal with material culture or with aspects of social life (music, storytelling, religion). This is an individual effort. Guidelines will be provided on themes and instruction expectations. You are required to do primary research for this paper by either interviewing an “oldtimer” with knowledge of the subject, attending a living history festival or using historical archives;
• A “living history” demonstration (approximately 30 minutes). These demos will begin about mid-way through semester and can be an individual or team effort of up to a maximum of 3 students;
• Three hour-long Exams over the readings, discussion, lectures, and films (exams will be given at the beginning of class and require about 45 minutes);
• Five “pop” quizzes. To keep us on top of the readings, we will periodically give a short unannounced 10 point quiz on the readings for that day. Be prepared!
• Participation. You must attend all classes and participate fully by reading all assignments and engaging in the discussions. Attendance will be taken and recorded.

Course Grades (maximum of 600 points)
• Final Written Paper. 200 Points (depth and originality of research, writing, illustrations, references). More details on paper format will be provided separately. This paper is original research and should be based on academic publications and original archival and oral history research. The internet must be used sparingly and any paper based mainly on internet sources will be questioned. Also, do your own work and avoid plagiarism of any kind (see UGA “Culture of Honesty”www.uga.edu/novpi/honesty/ah.pdf.)
• “Living History” Demonstration. 100 Points (Creativity, work-level, research). Your peers will help evaluate your performance.
• Three Exams (50 points each exam). 150 points total. Exams will be about 45 minutes long and will cover readings, lectures, and field visits.
• Five “Pop” quizzes (10 points each). 50 points.
• Participation. 100 points (participation includes attendance, discussion participation, and preparation in leading discussion of readings). A record of attendance will be kept. Each missed class without an official Doctor’s or Dean’s excuse will deduct 7 points. It will be your responsibility to find sign-up sheet and sign at each class period.

Final Grade Calculation
A=90% of total points and above
B= 80-89%
C=70-79%
D=60-69%
F=59 and below

Liability Wavier, Physical Requirements, and Alcohol Use. Outdoor activity in Georgia can be a physically demanding and dangerous activity. Helping to hew logs or construct a cabin is purely voluntary. No one will be required to do any activity in the (re)construction of the cabin, although some of you will chose to learn hands-on skills. We ask everyone to respect safety issues and the directions of those in charge on a given day. Dr. Rhoades, University of Georgia, or Agrarian Connections do not assume any responsibility for accidents or injury. UGA requires all students in the class to sign a liability waiver.

No Alcohol Policy. The University of Georgia has a policy against use of alcohol in a classroom setting. This class will be no exception despite the non-traditional setting (the farm).

Textbooks (Each week one or two chapters will be covered from each book)
Russell, Emily. 1997. People and Land through Time. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Kyvig, David E. and Myron A. Marty. Nearby History. Oxford: Altamira Press.

McRaven, Charles. 2005. The Classic Hewn-Log House. A Step-by-Step Guide to Building and Restoring. North Adam, Ma.: Storey Press.

Additional Information. For field visits, you should come dressed in protective clothing (long pants, long sleeve shirts, hats and gloves). Please help your fellow students with their projects (labor reciprocity was critical on the frontier).

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