ENVI 311
History of the Chemical Revolution in US Agriculture Fall 2015
Division II
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Class Details

Where do fertilizers, pesticides, and other agricultural chemicals come from? How are they made and why are they used? Why does the United States use so much more than other countries? This class examines the development of US agriculture through a lens of the chemical revolution. We begin with a study of the intensive growth of the US chemical industry and US agriculture during and after WWI, situating their growth within an era of chronic farm surplus. We then turn to the dramatic increases in chemical consumption among all branches of agriculture following WWII, paying particular attention to the relationships between seed technology, chemical warfare, mechanization, labor, government institutions, and petroleum-based organic chemicals. We conclude by turning our historical understanding of US agrochemical development toward the current state of US agriculture and examine the rationales and policies that support the ongoing consumption of industrial chemicals across the entire US agricultural complex.
The Class: Format: lecture
Limit: 16
Expected: 16
Class#: 1432
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: midterm and final exams; papers
Prerequisites: ENVI 101
Enrollment Preferences: Environmental Policy and Environmental Science majors; Environmental Studies concentrators
Distributions: Division II
Attributes: ENVI Environmental Policy
ENVP PE-A Group Electives
ENVP PTL-A Group Electives
ENVP SC-A Group Electives

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