Understandings of place

KGA172 Space, Place and NaturePresented by Associate Professor Elaine StratfordSemester 2

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LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD

Part 1

Revising Lecture 2.111. Draw a shoreline profile and label each

component, explaining the processes in which it is implicated and the effects that it has on the coast. Refer back to Slide 8 of the lecture if you need to.

2. Now look back at Slide 9. Which parts of the image of St Helens correspond with which labels from the shoreline profile?

3. What human impacts can you discern from the image of the coast at St Helens? What implications might these impacts have?

4. Define and distinguish between spring and neap tides. How do tides affect coastal processes?

5. Next draw a wave profile, labelling its components and explaining how each operates. You may refer back to Slide 12 from the lecture.

6. Describe the difference between erosional and depositional coastal landform features, referring to as many different features and the processes which formed them as you can.

Remember to use words that were in italics in the presentation.

A Woman Thinking

Learning ObjectivesModule 3 Lecture 1• be able to

– distinguish between space and place, and describe variations on the ‘theme of place

– understand and be able to explain the two approaches to the study of place

• phenomenological • social constructionist

– comprehend and be able to summarise content from a case study of place local to Tasmania

KGA172• Know and be able to (a) employ basic

geographical terminology and concepts, (b) find, evaluate, analyse and reference appropriate literature, (c) contribute to debates about development and sustainability

• Comprehend and be able to explain spatial patterns, generate basic maps, field sketches and graphs, and communicate in written and graphical forms

• Apply key academic skills and (a) engage in critical thinking, discussion and listening, and in self-reflection and reflection upon the viewpoints of others and (b) research, plan and conduct fieldwork to collect data

• Analyse and interpret basic spatial, numerical and qualitative information

• Synthesize and integrate knowledge of social and Earth systems

Textbook Reading Cresswell, T. (2004) Place: a short introduction, Blackwell, Oxford, Chapter 1 – Defining Place.Jacobs, J. (1999) The labour of cultural geography, in E. Stratford (ed.) Australian Cultural Geographies, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 11-24.

Plus Winchester, H.P.M. (2005) Qualitative Research and its Place in Human Geography in Hay, I. (ed) Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, pp.3-17 (available in MyLO).

Critical reading1.What is the author’s purpose?2.What key questions or problems does the author raise?3.What information, data and evidence does the author present?4.What key concepts does the author use to organize this information, this evidence?5.What key conclusions is the author coming to? Are those conclusions justified? 6.What are the author’s primary assumptions?7.What viewpoints is the author writing from?8.What are the implications of the author’s reasoning?[from Foundation for Critical Thinking]

Old Woman Reading a Lectionary, Gerard Dou

METHODS FOR UNDERSTANDING: REVISITING IDEAS ABOUT NATURE

Part 2

Paradigm

• A worldview shared by a knowledge producing community, such as the social sciences

• A conceptual framework that sets the group’s boundaries, guides the questions to be asked and the methods that should be used to answer those questions

• A never-innocent [value free] perspective

Cresswell, 2004, p.2

Cresswell, 2004, p.2

Place People

A mutually constitutive relationship

• A two-way relationship

• Cannot understand sense of place without understanding people and how the two interact

Quantitative methods Qualitative methods

• Numeric and statistical• Controlled settings• Experimental settings• Scientific method• Deductive approaches • Nomothetic• Pursuit of laws, generalisation

• Non-numerical• Natural settings• Interpretive method• Inductive approaches• Idiographic• Pursuit of patterns,

particularities

Methods of approach to understanding place

IdiographicA focus on particularityUsed often in the humanities and social sciencesUsually qualitative data and resultsFocus on individual things, places, personsAttitudes, perceptions, feelings

InterviewsFocus groupsOral histories[Auto]ethnographyText, talk and practice

NomotheticUse of general laws to explain phenomenaUsed most in natural sciencesUsually quantitative data and resultsFocus on classes of things, categoriesNumbers

MeasurementPresence/absenceClassificationExperimentsStatistics

GENERAL PARTICULAR

Different approaches to knowledge

ON PLACEPart 3

“place is space given meaning … and it’s given meaning by us” Liz Taylor (2005) Place: an exploration, Teaching Geography, Spring 2005, p.14.

Florence, Italy. E Stratford

The vocabulary of place

genius loci spirit of place sense of place placelessness sense of displacement

Venice from San Giorgio Maggiore. E Stratford

The vocabulary of placegenius loci

spirit of place sense of place placelessness sense of displacement

Isola de San Giorgio Maggiore. E Stratford

The vocabulary of placegenius loci spirit of place

sense of place placelessness sense of displacement

Cini Foundation and Benedictine Cloister from Bell Tower, Isola de San Giorgio Maggiore. E Stratford

The vocabulary of placegenius loci spirit of place sense of place

placelessness sense of displacement

Colosseum trickster, Rome E Stratford

The vocabulary of placegenius loci spirit of place sense of place placelessness

sense of displacement

I was ‘here’

Meanings people attach to place

Jacobs, 1999, p.22

A CASE OF SPACE AND PLACE: BANGOR, TASMAN PENINSULA

Part 4

How is space related to place?“space is the physical dimension in which things exist, while place is space given meaning … So place can be defined as a portion of space, with its unique mix of the built and [or] the natural, recognised by one person, or a huge group of people, as personal to them in some way” Liz Taylor (2005) Place: an exploration, Teaching Geography Spring p.14.

Cresswell, 2004, p.8; see also Tuan

Liz Taylor (2005, p. 15). Place: an exploration. Teaching Geography, Spring 2005.

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“For me, my existence is entwined with the land, and I cannot help but be powerfully affected by its spirit. It defines my sense of place, my

belongings in life. I am a steward of this land and I have a fierce passion for it, and a sense of responsibility towards it” Cynthia Dunbabin.

“Bangor is the place where I belong. It has been my home for 35 years; it’s where I live, work, learn, form relationships and relax; where I am a part of a family stretching both to the

past and into the future; and where I am grounded in the natural world. Situated on the northern end of Tasman peninsula, Bangor is a forested grazing landscape. Of its 6,200 ha, 5,000 ha remain in a natural condition. The spirit of this place – its land and sea – is strong”.

Nature into NumbersSlide by Cynthia Dunbabin