User:JessicaCmaguire

Hi and welcome to my user page! My name is Jessica Maguire and I am a senior at Bucknell University. I will graduate in May with my degree in economics and religion.

Some of the topics that I am considering for my main project are

1) Arcadian Ecology. There is not currently a page for this topic on Wikipedia. From a preliminary search online and of our University article database there seems to be enough information to create a useful page for Wikipedia. Acadian Ecology was and is a way for humans to look at ecology that suggest that humans are in harmony with nature and therefore should not dominate nature. By adding a page about this topic it could show a historical and academic look at a topic that could be useful to people all over the world. By adding something new with a different perspective that remains academic then Wikipedia may remain unbiased as a whole. In relation to my project my ambition is to work on a non-existant page because I find it that much more exciting!

Here is my preliminary research works cited as of 2/24/2014

1) Egerton, Frank N., and Laura D. Walls. "Rethinking Thoreau and the History of American Ecology." The Concord Saunterer 5 (1997): 4-20. Print.

2) Eliade, Mircea.The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion (trans. Willard R. Trask), New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1961. Print.

3) McIntosh, Robert P. The Background of Ecology: Concept and Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Print.

4) Mulligan, Martin. Ecological pioneers: A social history of Australian ecological thought and action. Cambridge University Press, 2001.

5) Oelschlaeger, Max. "Valuing Our Environment: A Philosophical Perspective." Ethics and the Environment 2.1 (1997): 81-90. Print.

6) Van Koppen, C.S.A.(Kris). "Resource, Arcadia, Lifeworld. Nature Concepts in Environmental Sociology." Sociologia Ruralis 3 (2000): 300-318. Print.

7) White, Gilbert. The natural history and antiquities of Selborne. Methuen: The Aberdeen University Press Limited, 1901.

8) Worster, Donald. Nature's Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Wiki Outline

The primitive relationship between humans and nature is one that has shaped the world, and will continue to determine it’s future. While Charles Darwin is sometimes credited with the title of a founding father of ecology, the real history begins in the eighteenth century with Gilbert White. White, a scholar and priest wrote, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, in 1789. It was a individual realization of ancient arcadian ideas of harmonious interactions between humans and nature. The evolution of Arcadian ecological thought continuously reverts back to the detailed letters and poems in this work. .

The harmonious relationship described by arcadian ecology establishes a responsibility to resist the domination of nature. Donald Woster in his book, Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas, provides Imperial ecology as an opposing viewpoint on arcadian ecology. Imperial ecology takes a different approach, suggesting that humans should attempt to manage nature, because nature has been provided to benefit man. This contradiction is rooted in the struggle for ecologist to explain human relationship with nature while considering popular theological views of the time period. The discussion of Arcadian versus Imperial ecology would continue with prominent figures of the field such as Henry Thoreau and Charles Darwin. The long term implications of this debate has the potential to shape nature in the future as humans struggle with ethical debates and laws for preservation.