National Parks and American Culture

Catalog description

Offered autumn. This course introduces undergraduates to contemporary issues in managing the places and programs that make up the U.S. national park system. Students will learn about the variety of resources, values, viewpoints, and ideas that are represented in the more than 400 units of the national park system, which stretches from Guam to Maine and Alaska to the Virgin Islands. The role of the federal agency in charge of the parks, the National Park Service (NPS), will be explored, including its work in community recreation and historic preservation. Particular attention will be given to the social, cultural and historical context of how the National Park Service was developed and evolved. There are no pre-requisites.