Introduction to Environmental History
Environmental history since 1500 forms the core of this MIT OpenCourseWare course, tracing how climate, topography, plants, animals, and microorganisms have shaped human societies, and how people in turn reshaped the environment. The course covers the European encounter with the Americas, including the exchange of crops, diseases, and species across the Atlantic, the spread of modern industrial technology, and the deeper historical roots of today's environmental crises. Materials include the full syllabus, weekly reading assignments drawn from historical scholarship, and discussion topics used in the original MIT classroom. There is no video lecture series, but the reading list and assignment structure let a self-directed learner follow the same arc from early modern encounters to contemporary environmental concerns. Free to access through MIT OCW, with no certificate offered.