Picturing the World

Picturing the World, Professor Georges Van Den Abbeele and Professor Beryl Schlossman

Opening the Archive, Professor Marina Leslie

Introduction to Shakespeare, Professor Erika Boeckeler

Introduction to English Studies, Professor Nicole Aljoe

Inquiries: Discovering Lost and Invented Ecosystems, Professor Kathleen Kelly

Advanced Writing in the Disciplines for Environmental Studies, Professor Kathleen Kelly

"I took my environmental history class to view those pieces on display in halls and various classrooms and asked them to use them as a window onto evolving conceptions of the natural world in the West. I encouraged them to look at maps such as Captain John Smith’s map of Virginia, or Guillaume de l’isle’s Carte de la Louisiane and the 1777 map of Narragansett Bay, to look at how conceptions of American environments developed over the first centuries of European settlement. I asked them to compare the floral prints by Jacques le Moyne de Morgues and 19th century prints to examine the worldviews and conceptions of the natural world that they expressed. I was amazed at how students grasped the impact of an increasingly scientific worldview, the importance of new instruments and quantification in mapping and botanical / zoological drawings.

As I look towards future classes of environmental and Atlantic history (between 1492 – 1804) I will continue to integrate this collection into my classes to give students firsthand experience with the analysis and interpretation of these sources."

- Chris Parsons, Assistant Professor of History