Nature, Environment, and Empire
MIT's course examines how European and American natural history, both domestic and exotic, connected to the exploration and exploitation of the natural world during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Readings and discussions trace how naturalists, collectors, and colonial administrators used botany, zoology, and geography to catalog territories and justify their control, from plant-hunting expeditions to natural history museums. The course covers topics such as scientific voyages, imperial gardens, and the trade in exotic species, asking how the pursuit of knowledge about nature became entangled with empire building. Materials include a full syllabus, weekly reading assignments drawn from primary and secondary historical sources, and discussion-based sessions rather than problem sets. Offered through MIT OpenCourseWare, the materials are free to access, with no certificate offered. It suits students interested in the history of science, environmental history, or colonialism's cultural dimensions.