Rivers as Environmental Gateways to American History

History
Joel Tarr
Spring 05

This course will explore the critical role that rivers have played throughout American history from a number of perspectives.  These include a discussion of rivers as natural bodies; human uses of rivers as transportation avenues (rivers as infrastructure), pollution sinks and sources of water supply; human attempts to alter and shape rivers; rivers as hazards; the use and meaning of rivers to different groups in society; and, images of rivers in literature and popular imagination.