SEA Semester®: Ocean Exploration
Maritime Studies CAS NS 222 (3 credits)
Course Catalog Description (max. 40 words): Relationship between humans and the sea. History, literature and art of our maritime heritage. Ships as agents of contact change. Political and economic challenges of contemporary marine affairs.
Instructor(s): Sea Education Association Maritime Studies Faculty
Location: SEA campus in Woods Hole, MA.
Prerequisites: Admission to the SEA Semester.
Course Philosophy and Approach: Maritime Studies is a multidisciplinary exploration of humankind’s relationships with the ocean. These relationships take many shapes and forms. Some are enduring and almost unchanging, while others continually change. The sea has been a powerful factor shaping human culture and individual behavior for millennia. Traditionally, historians have acknowledged ocean spaces as essential—relied upon for raw materials and a means for long-distance transportation—to the growth and expansion of civilizations. Culturally, the ocean has inspired artists, writers, and more recently filmmakers, to create enduring works of art and literature. But, only recently have we acknowledged the immense impact humans have had on the marine environment. The unrelenting extraction of food and energy resources and the dumping of pollutants have seriously damaged the “seven seas.” Human intentions and their consequences, however, are not always negative. We are preserving maritime areas and making selected urban and rural shoreline areas available for responsible public access and recreation. Sustainable fisheries are in place, too, or at the very least they are envisioned and promoted. Finally, scientists employing new techniques and asking new questions are learning more about the dynamic, interdependent and fragile oceans. In this six-week course taught onshore, we will pay particular attention to the long history of the watery part of the world through which students will sail during the subsequent sea component, and we will discuss key issues in the contemporary Pacific. The course will help students make the most of their sea voyage and expand upon the ways they think about life and labor on, under and around the Pacific Ocean.
This course consists of 18 lecture/discussion sessions (1 to 1.5 hours each) and 5 seminars (3 hours each). This three-credit course consists of a total of 40 contact hours of official instruction, in addition to individual meetings with students to review drafts of written work and prepare for seminar presentations. The course calendar below provides preliminary details.
Learning Outcomes: 1. Build an understanding of the tools of the maritime, Pacific and transnational historian.
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2. Trace the impact of maritime culture and policy through literature, art, artifacts, legal documents and the physical environment. 3. Learn or hone skills in critical reading and writing of history. 4. Learn how to apply the analytical methods of maritime historians to observed characteristics of the islands and cultures visited in the Pacific over the period of the sea component.
Evaluation: First Essay: Impressions of the Encounter 25% Second Essay: European Expansion to the Pacific 25% Seminars: The Pacific Ocean Laboratory 25% Class Engagement/Participation 25%
Assignments: • First Essay: Impressions of the Encounter. Consider the early encounters between Europeans and the people of the western Atlantic as described by Christopher Columbus and others, and as interpreted by Patricia Seed in her article “Taking Possession and Reading Texts.” These encounters led to profound changes in the lives and cultures of indigenous people, and of Africans brought as enslaved labor to replace them. How should we assess these historical documents? From our perspective of four or five hundred years after the events being described, can we read in them evidence of the motives or plans of the Europeans? Is there more than one point of view? Are these texts aimed at a particular audience? Are they meant to persuade the reader to think about the Native people or the New World landscape in some particular way? The goal of this paper is to demonstrate your close reading of the assigned texts, and your knowledge of the distinction between the reiteration of what you have read and your analysis and interpretation of it. This is a thoughtful and well-constructed essay, not a book report. You must consider the source materials critically and analytically, draw conclusions from the readings supported by evidence, and develop a cogent thesis or opinion of your own. Use examples from the readings to illustrate and support those aspects of the encounter that you consider to be most interesting and/or important; distinguish between primary and secondary sources. This paper should not require you to do research beyond the class readings, lectures, and discussions, but if you want more background context on colonialism, there are several copies on reserve of Philip Curtin’s The Rise and Fall of the Plantation Complex (the first few chapters may be helpful); for additional short appropriate texts see Eric Williams’ Documents of West Indian History, also on reserve. Beyond that, you may use (if necessary) scholarly articles that you find on JSTOR. This essay should be 6 to 8 pages (1500-2000 words) in length.
• Second Essay: European Expansion to the Pacific. Building on the work you did in the first essay, look at the expansion of European interests into the islands of Polynesia. You may want to compare the attitudes and actions of Capt. James Cook to his predecessors in the Atlantic 250 years earlier. Were the motives of Europeans the same? Were the results of www.sea.edu Maritime Studies - 2 SEA Semester®: Ocean Exploration
the encounter? Did perceptions of Polynesians differ from those of the Native people of the western Atlantic? Sources for this paper may include Cook’s journal, the video “Hawaii’s Last Queen,” Sahlins’ analysis of Cook, the Mutiny on the Bounty movies, the post-colonial texts of Jamaica Kincaid, Derek Walcott, and Albert Wendt, and additional scholarly articles that you might find on JSTOR. This essay should be 6 to 8 pages (1500- 2000 words) in length.
• Seminars: The Pacific Ocean Laboratory. The Pacific Ocean covers almost one third of the Earth’s surface. 250 years ago European mariners began to venture into the Pacific with specific scientific agendas, and since that time we can trace a series of voyages that have contributed to our knowledge of science, navigation, and geography. Often the information that was gathered supported naval operations, commerce, or the exploitation of resources. Sometimes technology developed for those purposes was put to broader scientific uses, and information was gathered that we are able to utilize now to understand changes that have occurred over time. We will explore how the Pacific Ocean has been used as a laboratory, in five 3-hour seminars on the following topics: I) Voyages in the Age of Enlightenment; II) Whaling and Science in the 19th Century; III) Science and War in the 20th Century; IV) The Nuclear Age; and, V) The Satellite Age. Each student will contribute a 15-20 minute report to one of these seminars. You are expected to consult with the faculty and to identify and use at least three sources. In addition to your oral report during the seminar, you will need to turn in your outline, notes and bibliography following your presentation.
• Class Participation/Engagement: You are expected to be an active participant in class discussions and to engage yourself fully in the assigned readings. 25% of your grade will be based on your knowledgeable participation in our class discussions.
Expectations and Requirements: • Punctual attendance is required at every class meeting. • Active participation in class discussion is expected. • Late assignment submissions are not accepted. • The policy on academic accuracy, quoted below, will be strictly followed in this class. The papers that you submit in this course are expected to be your original work. You must take care to distinguish your own ideas and knowledge from wording or substantive information that you derive from one of your sources. The term “sources” includes not only published primary and secondary material, but also information and opinions gained directly from other people and text that you cut and paste from any site on the Internet. The responsibility for learning the proper forms of citation lies with you. Quotations must be placed properly within quotation marks and must be cited fully. In addition, all paraphrased material must be acknowledged completely. Whenever ideas or facts are derived from your reading and research, the sources must be indicated. (Harvard Handbook for Students, 305) www.sea.edu Maritime Studies - 3 SEA Semester®: Ocean Exploration
• Considerations for use of internet sources: As you browse websites, assess their usefulness very critically. Who posted the information and why? Can you trust them to be correct? Authoritative? Unbiased? (It’s okay to use a biased source as long as you incorporate it knowingly and transparently into your own work.) Keep track of good sources that might be useful for subsequent assignments, and annotate in your bibliography any sites you cite. Your annotation should include the name of the author or organization originating any material that you reference. If you can’t identify the source, don’t use it!
Preliminary Reading List: Readings: William Bligh, excerpt from The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty Christopher Columbus, selections from The Four Voyages: Being his own Log-Book, etc. James Cook, excerpts from The Journals of Captain Cook Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place Marcus Rediker, excerpts from Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Outlaws of the Atlantic Marshall Sahlins, Islands of History Patricia Seed. “Taking Possession and Reading Texts: Establishing the Authority of Overseas Empires,” The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Apr., 1992), pp. 183-209. Philip Steinberg, excerpts from The Social Construction of the Ocean Derek Walcott, “The Sea is History” Albert Wendt, “Towards a New Oceania”
Films: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) The Bounty (1984) Hawaii’s Last Queen Master and Commander
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Course Calendar: Topic Readings/Assignments Due Week 1 (5 hours) – on shore at SEA campus in Woods Hole Introduction to Maritime Studies Sign up for Seminar report topics. European Exploration and Expansion The Atlantic World Science Under Sail Week 2 (8 hours) – on shore at SEA campus in Woods Hole European Trans-Atlantic Expansion Christopher Columbus, selections from The Seminar I: Pacific Voyages in the Age of Four Voyages. Enlightenment Patricia Seed, “Taking Possession & Reading American Expansion into the Pacific Texts.” Seminar II: Resource Exploitation, Whaling, Marcus Rediker, excerpts of Between the Devil and Voyages in the 19th Century and the Deep Blue Sea and Outlaws of the Atlantic. Week 3 (7 hours) – on shore at SEA campus in Woods Hole Captain Cook in Hawaii James Cook, excerpts from The Journals of “Mutiny on the Bounty” Film Festival Captain Cook. Introduction to Fisheries Marshall Sahlins, Islands of History. Seminar III: Science and War William Bligh, excerpt from The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty Week 4 (8 hours) – on shore at SEA campus in Woods Hole Commercial Colonialism in the 20th Century: First Essay Due: Impressions of the Encounter The United Fruit Company Film/Discussion: “Hawaii’s Last Queen” Whaling and the Rise of the Conservation Movement The International Law of the Sea Seminar IV: The Nuclear Age Week 5 (6 hours) – on shore at SEA campus in Woods Hole Polynesian Migration and the Cultural Revival Derek Walcott, “The Sea is History” Post-Colonial Perspectives Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place Seminar V: The Satellite Age Albert Wendt, “Towards a New Oceania”
Week 6 (6 hours) – on shore at SEA campus in Woods Hole Reading Round Robin Second Essay Due: European Expansion to the Film/Discussion: “Master and Commander” Pacific Maritime Studies Wrap-up/Conclusions
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