Environmental History

Environmental history is the study of human beings interacting with the natural world over time. It considers the role of non-human factors in history, simultaneously emphasizing that human beings both produce and are part of the natural environment. While drawing on the frameworks and methods of the diverse disciplines that aim to study the natural world, environmental historians also examine the sociocultural construction of notions such as “nature” and “environment.” For these reasons, environmental history is closely related not only to the study of ecology and climate in the sciences but also to disciplines such as social and cultural history, political and economic history, geography, philosophy, and history of science and medicine. In addition to the omnivorous methodological approaches that comprise the environmental humanities in the United States, environmental history at the University of Virginia reflects the global tendencies of the field today, with researchers and instructors specializing in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and transnational questions. UVa courses in environmental history bring history majors together with students from other programs on campus related to the study of the environment, especially the Environmental Thought & Practice interdisciplinary program.