DATE

TOPIC

ACTIVITIES

ASSIGNMENTS: BE PREPARED TO DISCUSS THESE READINGS IN CLASS

FEB. 3

CALIFORNIA: Landscape, Natural History and Destiny

Introduction to course;
Forming Regional Groups;
Mulholland's Dream

Read Handouts

FEB. 10

Module A:
The Desert Province

Guest Speaker: Nancy Vogl
Basic Ecology: Is California an Island?
Discussion: Is there an ecology of fear?
Land of Little Rain

Fradkin: Preface, The Approach, & I. Deserts
Muir: The Wild Sheep (print & read!)
FREE MP3 file of the Wild Sheep:
Austin: Land of Little Rain (download: print & read!)

FEB. 17

Module B:
The Mountains of California
The Sierra Nevada

Response Paper #1 due
DISCUSSION: Dregs of the Earth: Ecological Effects of Hydraulic Mining in the Sierra

Gilbar: Gary Nabhan's The Palms in Our Hands, p. 219-234
Austin: The Basket Maker (print & read!)
Fradkin: II. The Sierra
Muir: The Sierra Nevada (print & read!) Free MP3 file of the Sierra Nevada

FEB. 24

See Sierra Slides on web

Field Trip to Sonoma County Museum
4:00 p.m. @ Meet at the Museum in Santa Rosa - FREE admission!
5:00 p.m. Guest Speaker: Gordon Amrein

Fradkin: II. The Sierra (continued)
Mosley: Begin your reading of Little Scarlet
Muir: The Snow (print & read!)
FREE MP3 file of The Snow

MAR. 3

Integrating History, Literature and the Natural World

Response Paper #2 due
Jack London & Jack Kerouac
Field Trip to SSU Special Collections

Gilbar:: Jack Kerouac's Climbing Matterhorn Peak, p. 40-51
Jack London The Story of an Eyewitness (download, print and read)
Gilbar: M.F.K. Fisher's Spirits of the Valley, p. 129-134

MAR. 10

Module C: Mountaintops: Ecological Islands (of Relicts & Endemics)

Discussion Sierra, Klamath, Cascades, Coast Ranges, Transverse and Peninsular: Distinct Features
Hand out Midterm Exam

Gilbar: Mark Twain's Lake Tahoe, p. 32-39
Muir: The Glaciers (print & read!
FREE MP3 file of The Glaciers

MAR. 17

Closer to Home Rachel Carson, Pollution and the Landscape
Clear Lake's Legacy

Midterm Exam #1 Due
Rachel Carson; other related activities
Field Trip to Petaluma (Walking Tour) OR
Field trip to  Fairfield Osborn Preserve

Rachel Carson: Silent Spring (go online:print & read! This is short.
Gilbar: Robert Louis Stevenson's The Sea Fogs, p. 101-107

MAR. 24

Module D: Land of Fire, the Cascades & the Modoc Plateau
Why we have a holiday on March 31!

Response Paper #3 due
How did the Cascades form?
Cultures of the Land of Fire
Cesar Chavez's Fight in the Fields

Fradkin: III. Land of Fire
Gilbar: John Steinbeck's Flight, p. 116-128

MAR. 31

CESAR CHAVEZ HOLIDAY

NO CLASS

APR. 5-9

SPRING BREAK

NO CLASS

APR. 14

Module E: The California Coast and Estuaries

GUEST SPEAKER
Discussion Bodega Head and the Demise of the Nuclear Energy Industry
Hand out Midterm Exam #2

Fradkin: IV. Land of Water
Gilbar: Jack London's On Sonoma Mountain, p. 108-115

APR. 21

The San Andreas Fault
Bodega Head and Bodega Bay;
Our Endangered Coastal Province

Field Trip to the Bodega Bay (Intertidal; Mudflats; & Bodega Head)
Vanishing Wetlands
Midterm Exam #2 Due

Fradkin: VI. The Fractured Province (central coast)
Gilbar: John McPhee's The San Andreas Discrepancy, p.305-315
Gilbar: Wm. H. Brewer's Into the Valley, p. 93-100

APR. 28

Module F:
The Great Central Valley: Most impacted "State" in California

Response Paper #4 due
The most endangered of the States of California.
A Walk in the SSU Native Plants Garden

Fradkin: V. The Great Valley
Muir: The Bee Pastures (print & read!)
FREE MP3 file of the Bee Pastures

MAY 5

Module G: The Profligate Province

Los Angeles: landscape and cultures in the region
Field Trip to Armstrong Redwoods

Fradkin: VII. The Profligate Province (south coast)
You have FINISHED reading Mosley's Little Scarlet!
Make an OUTLINE of the plot and characters AND BRING IT TO CLASS!

MAY 12

Los Angeles area 

I. Little Scarlet analysis
II. Discussion: Social Justice; what is it? Environmental implications will be explored.
Student Research Presentations (in Darwin 31)

Gilbar: Joan Dideon's The Santa Ana

MAY 19

Seven States of California Revisited
Looking into the Future: The Cultural Faces of California

Student Research Presentations (in Darwin 31)
Hand out Final Exam

Gilbar: Gary Snyder's Afterward: Coming into the Watershed, p. 355-367  

MAY 25

Final Examination

Due @ 4:00 p.m in the classroom

Early submissions? There will be instructions on the Final Exam.