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A People's Geography of American Empire

A People's Geography of American Empire

Quarters
Fall Open
Location
Olympia
Class Standing
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Zoltan Grossman
pA Peopleapos;s Geography of American Empire will look at U.S. expansion, from the colonization of Native America and overseas imperial conquests, to present-day resource wars. It will focus on the place-making processes inherent in each stage of expansion, and on the imprints they have left on the human and physical landscape. It will examine imperial places that have been shaped by each era of expansion, and in turn have shaped each era./ppWe will examine the continuous historical arc of expansion, from the Indian frontier wars to colonialism in the Pacific and Caribbean, to occupations in Middle East tribal regions.” This expansion comes full circle as immigrants arrive from formerly colonized lands, and wars at home are waged against occupied communities. In addition to the origins and rationales underlying each stage of expansion, we will explore how and to what extent the worldapos;s landscape reflects and helps to (re)produce imperial power./ppThe program will aim to interconnect global and local scales, foreign and domestic policies, and past histories and present-day legacies. It will examine the lasting imprints of imperial control on real local places, in particular the network of U.S. military bases around the world, including Washington military installations such as Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Naval Base Kitsap, and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island./ppAs their fall-quarter project, students will focus on a single local-scale case study, writing separate essays on its past history and present-day landscape, and a resident interview (of activists, refugees, or veterans). Students will also turn in a biweekly synthesis paper on their readings and other learning. A fall-quarter overnight field trip will introduce students to military installations and locations of Indigenous-settler interactions. A winter-quarter research project will create a public-facing educational website on contemporary examples of land acquisition, place-making, environmental impacts, and dissent./ppWhile some of the histories of conflict and suffering may be difficult to learn, frontline communities want their stories to be heard. Imperial places also offer stories of cooperation and resilience, healing, and hope. The program will make a geographical contribution to the study of American Empire by examining the making and remaking of imperial places, and using place-based approaches to examine hierarchies of race, nationality, class, and gender./pp /pdiv data-olk-copy-source="MessageBody"bAnticipated Credit Equivalencies (Fall): /b/divdiv4 - Native American and Indigenous Studies: Manifest Destiny and Native Resistance/divdiv4 - U.S. History: Settler Colonial and Imperial Policies/divdiv4 - World History: Geographies of Military Bases, Interventions, and Occupations/divdiv4 - Research Project on Imperial Places: _____________/divdiv /divdivbAnticipated Credit Equivalencies (Winter):/b/divdiv3 - Political Geography: Geographies of Empire /divdiv3 - World Geography: Resistance to Empire/divdiv3 - Social Movement Studies: Dissent in Military and Civilian Communities/divdiv7 - Militarism Educational Graphics Project: _____________/div

Registration

Course Reference Numbers So - Sr (16): 20086
Course Reference Numbers So - Sr (16): 10029

Academic Details

pcommunity studies, geography, and international studies./p
16
25
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
pFall: $260 fee covers two-night field trip to Whidbey Island ($250 covers food, lodging, motorpool, and supplies) and museum entrance fees ($10). /ppWinter: $10 fee covers museum entrance fees. /p

Schedule

Fall
2026
Open
Winter
2027
Open
In Person (F)
In Person (W)

See definition of Hybrid, Remote, and In-Person instruction

Day
Schedule Details
SEM 2 E3109 - Seminar
Olympia