Few discoveries have so fundamentally transformed the natural world and the organization of human life as the discovery of oil. From our concern with global warning to the international conflicts regarding the price and supply of petroleum, oil clearly occupies a central place in world politics and economics today, not to mention in our daily lives. This course will investigate the history behind this pre-occupation with oil production, focusing on several themes. First, we will explore how the exploration for oil, as well as the technologies required for refining and transporting it, have altered the natural environment. Second, we will examine the economic nature of oil exploration and in particular the boom-bust cycles that mark oil production. With this latter theme, we will investigate both how domestic politics have revolved around oil in the United States, as well as how international politics have been shaped by the problems of oil production. Evaluation will be based on class participation, weekly critical writing, and a major research paper (20-30 pages) based on primary documents. Enrollment limited. This course satisfies the "Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences" requirement for the Environmental Studies concentration. Group A