HIS 345 Winter in Yellowstone
This course explores the history of Yellowstone National Park, its peoples, and its ecosystems. The conceptual approach expands on the growing field of natural history humanities by combining historical methods and environmental sciences to rethink the links between wilderness, humans, and ecological change. Using Native sources, archaeological evidence, explorers' diaries, and extensive fieldwork with some of the country's leading naturalists, we will develop a new way of thinking broadly and creatively about natural history, cultural change, and environmental sustainability. In doing so, we aim for a new, multidisciplinary understanding of the natural world, where the poetry of the humanities and the empiricism of the natural sciences work together to create a comprehensive vision for sustainable rewilding.