The Agricultural Revolution: Humans Adapting to Climate Change, Humans Shaping the Environment

Have humans simply been lucky? Did they unintentionally exploit ecological niches? Or has specific ingenuity allowed groups of people to transcend previous limits on their food supply? Scholars from Jared Diamond to Kenneth Pomeranz have weighed in on this discussion. This presentation will explore these questions in the context of the Agricultural Revolution, model ways to present historiographical debate in class, and provide examples of structured investigation of both primary and secondary source material, encouraging students to drawn their own conclusions.