Crop and Soil Sciences > Degree Programs and Courses > Soil Science Courses > Soils 497U

Soils 497U - Soils, Civilizations, and Societies

Course Description

This course will study environmental and agricultural issues across diverse landscapes, climate and soil regimes, and cultures over time. We will look at the effect that soils and other natural resources have had on the development of civilizations and societies throughout history, and, in turn, the impact that these have had on native soils and other natural resources. Much of the course will focus on the various climate and soil regimes of the Near East (Middle East). These will include five major domains: 1) the humid highlands, a rainfed farming domain; 2) the semiarid steppes, a nomadic pastoral domain; 3) the river valleys, a seasonally variable, riverine domain; 4) the seacoasts, a maritime domain; and 5) the arid and hyperarid desert domains. We will study the agricultural history and traditions of the people of these regions who were arguably the first societies and civilizations of the world and will investigate how and why these regions were first settled more than 10,000 years B.C.E.

To set the stage for our exploration of soils and civilizations, the course will examine the history and agricultural traditions across the diverse landscapes of central Pennsylvania, including several short field trips to local sites. The course will also look at current challenges and environmental issues that are a result of our management of non-renewable resources, especially soils.

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