Geography
439.01: American Cultural Landscapes
Syllabus
Men are so
inclined to content themselves with what is commonest; the spirit and the
senses so easily grow dead to the
impressions
of the beautiful and perfect, that every one should study, by all methods, to
nourish in his mind the faculty of feeling
these
things. ...For this reason, one ought every day at least, to hear a little
song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it
were
possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
Goethe, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. Bk. v, ch. 1 (Carlyle, tr.) [source:
Stevenson]
Fall 2008
Dr. Scott Brady
TR:
3:30-4:45
Office: 523 Butte Hall
Location:
Butte 103
Phone:898-5588
Office Hours:
MWF 10-11, R 2:30-3:30
mailto:sbrady@csuchico.edu
Geography
Computer Lab: Butte 501
Hours: MW 8-5
TR 8-9:30 & 12:15-5
Writing
Center http://online.csuchico.edu/public/Writing_Center/
Course Description: This course will explore the American
cultural landscapes and the landscape tradition by means of readings, student
reports, field trips, and independent research.
Course Objectives:
1. Explore
landscape tradition.
2. Explore
American cultural landscapes.
3.
Students will be able to recognize the presence and application of regional,
local and global dimensions of the social and physical worlds in the landscape.
4. Read and
discuss seminal and curious works.
5. Write reviews
of these works for inclusion in a course portfolio which will contain: 1)
copies of articles read; 2) typed reviews; 3) field notes; 4) discussion notes;
and 5) some other stuff.
6. Explore,
observe, and study several local landscapes, on site and in the library.
7. Explore,
observe and study one local landscape in great detail.
8. Create a
representation of that landscape.
9. Compile a
visual glossary of the landscape components that distinguish the Chico area's
cultural landscape.
Required
Materials:
1. Online and
Reserve readings. http://www.csuchico.edu/library.
Course:
GEOG 439 Password: UWKA3
2.
Walking the flatlands : the rural
landscape of the lower Sacramento Valley / Mike Madison. Berkeley, Calif. :
Heyday Books, c2004.
San Francisco Chronicle review of
Madison's "The Blithe Tomato".
Work:
You will do several
types of work in this course. They include:
1.
Reviews of assigned readings. You'll do a lot of these. The authors
of these articles, chapters and one book will guide your exploration of
landscape study. Your reviews will be opportunities to develop your
knowledge of landscapes and how to study them, and improve your writing and
re-writing. The reviews will also prepare you for class
discussions.
2.
Field trip reports. We will take several group and/or individual field trips
during the semester, either on foot or on bikes. Each field trip is an
assignment in landscape observation, description and interpretation.
These assignments will allow you to develop the geographer's "gift of
sight", and improve your writing and re-writing. The reports will
also prepare you for class discussions.
3.
Landscape Narrative. Each student will create a narrative about a
particular walking/biking tour in Chico. The narrative will include a
written portion in which you discuss and describe the landscapes encountered on
the tour. It also will include images (sketches and/or photos) and a map.
These tours might be included in the activities associated with the California
Geographical Society meeting that the geography department will host during the
spring semester.
4.
Other stuff. IÕll come up with some other stuff.
5. Portfolio
Grades:
I assign final
grades according to the work described above and in collaboration with
students. How does this work? I assign work (reviews,
exercises...). You do the work and turn it in on time. I evaluate
your work and assign it a mark of R, OK, or * (That * is supposed to be a
star).
R = re-write, re-do and/or
revise and means that your work
was incomplete, insufficient and/or incorrect. You have until the next
class period to revise your work. On
that day you will turn in your original and revised versions
of the work. And then I grade the revision. Revised work might receive an OK or
a *, or another R. If it's an R,
the student must give the assignment another shot. OKs and *s for revised
work replace Rs in my grade book.
Oh yeah, I do not accept any
late work. I do, however, accept work turned in early.
OK = OK means that your work is
of high enough quality to go into your portfolio.
* = This is excellent work.
Thank you for putting so much effort into the assignment.
So, I put Rs, OKs,
and/or *s in my gradebook. How do I come up with a final grade?
Well, I look the 30 or so symbols in my gradebook and decide. If more
than half of a student's entries are *s, I figure that a student has done
consistently excellent work and they deserve an A. If I see a lot of Rs,
I figure that the student did poor work and did not care to improve it and they
deserve a D or an F. Yes, this is a quite approximate method of grade
calculation. Don't fret. To help students figure out how they are doing,
mid-semester they must schedule a meeting with me. During that meeting
we'll look at the array of symbols earned thus far and evaluate their work.
Also, at the end of the semester I ask students to make a case for, and assign
themselves, a final grade for the course. I take their self-evaluations
seriously.
Useful
Links
http://www.trentu.ca/geography/PATKch7p100.html
http://www.rivers.gov.au/model/diagrams.htm
http://www.zalf.de/home_zalf/institute/lsa/lsa_e/
http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/histland/maelor/maelor.htm#1122%20Mulsford
http://www.amst.umd.edu/Research/cultland/index.html
http://www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca/index.html
http://www.soils.agri.umn.edu/academics/classes/soil2125/doc/s7chp4.htm
Orchards:
http://cetulare.ucdavis.edu/update/walnut.htm
http://cecolusa.ucdavis.edu/Programs/Pomology/Nickels_Report_98/walnuts.htm
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/InOrder/Shop/Shop.asp
http://www.bluediamond.com/growers/techniques/cultural/hedgerow.cfm
http://www.fowlernurseries.com/index.html
http://cetehama.ucdavis.edu/Agriculture/Groundwater__Wells_-_Pumps__Information.htm
http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/2280/20281.pdf
Recreation:
http://www.waterskimag.com/article.jsp?ID=4710
http://www.shadowlakeestates.com/
House
styles:
http://www.uwec.edu/Geography/Ivogeler/w367/styles/index.htm
http://www.greatbuildings.com/types.html
http://www.historicberkeley.com/Styarc.htm
http://architecture.about.com/library/bl-styles_index.htm
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~twp/architecture/
http://www.preservationdirectory.com/architecturalstyles.html
http://www.cmhpf.org/kids/Guideboox/OldHouseGuide.html
http://www.railbarons.org/Layout/layout.html
http://ah.bfn.org/a/archsty/index.html
Tentative Schedule:
Week 1 (8/25-8/29)
8/28
Orientation paper due:
Orientation
Paper Instructions:
Students will turn in a typed, double-spaced, 250-word essay in which they
answer the following questions:
1) Why did you enroll in this course?
2) What do you hope to learn in this course?
3) Do you have a good bike?
4) What kind of camera do you have?
5) How well do you know the Chico area?
6) What are your favorite Chico landscapes?
7) Who are you?
Required Reading
Sauer, Carl O.
"The Education of a Geographer." Reprinted from The Annals of the
Association of American Geographers, Vol. 46 (1956): 287-99.
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/giw/sauer-co/1956_teg/1956_teg_body.html
Type your review and include and/or
address these points and questions. Review
due on Thursday.
1. How did you become a geographer?
2. How is your approach to
geography similar or different from that of Sauer?
3. What does Sauer mean by
the "morphologic eye"?
4. What is the method that
he describes in the section "On Being Unspecialized" ?
5. What activities does
Sauer prescribe for effective geographical training?
6. What kind of field work?
7. What is the role of
description?
Week 2 (9/1-9/5)
Editing suggestions, as promised.
Required Readings:
at the library's online reserve.
Hart, John Fraser.
Understanding Landscape.
Review due on Tuesday.
Points to address and questions to answer.
1. Describe the
emphases for landscape study according to Hart.
2. What are 3 principal
components?
3. Which human forms?
4. Why does he focus on
making a living?
5. How, specifically, do
agricultural systems play a major role in shaping a landscape?
6. What are the other
influences?
7. On what grounds does
he Òinvokes function to explain as much of built landscape as possibleÓ?
8. What has happened to
the influence of the physical environment on ag landscapes during the past 50
years?
9. Summarize
HartÕs opinion of studying symbolism in the landscape.
10. Summarize
HartÕs opinion of studying human perception of the landscape.
11. What does prior
potior mean? Why is it important
for landscape study?
12. How does one
study landscapes according to Hart?
Pierce F. Lewis,
"Axioms for Reading the Landscape: Some Guides to the American
Scene," in The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical
Essays, ed. D. W. Meinig (Oxford
University Press, 1979): 11-32.
Points
to address and questions to answer.
Review due on Thursday
1. How are
landscapes like a book yet difficult to read?
2. Why are
Americans not accustomed to reading the landscape?
3. What is Lewis'
opinion of academics as examples for landscape interpretation?
4. Summarize the
Axiom of Landscape as Clue to Culture. Be sure you understand the
supporting corollaries. 5. Summarize the Axiom of Common
Things.
6. Explain the
Corollary of Nonacademic Literature
7. Explain the
Corollary of Historic Lumpiness and provide a Chico example.
8. Explain the
Axiom of Landscape Obscurity
9. What questions does
Lewis recommend that we ask when we study landscapes?
Week 3 (9/8-9/12)
Looking
at some more landscapes
D. W. Meinig, "The
Beholding Eye: Ten Versions of the Same Scene," in The Interpretation
of Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical Essays, ed. D. W. Meinig (Oxford University Press, 1979): 32-48.
Points to address and questions to answer.
Review due on
Tuesday
1. Main point of
paper?
2. Why does he
mention the 18th century Romantics?
3. Compare the
"Landscape as Habitat" view with the "Landscape as Nature"
view.
4. Compare the
"Landscape as Habitat" view with the "Landscape as
Artifact" view? Why? Provide a local
example.
5. What group of
scholars and workers utilize the "Landscape as Problem"
view? Why? Provide a local example.
6. What group of
scholars and workers utilize the "Landscape as Wealth" view?
Why? Provide a local example.
7. What group of
scholars and workers utilize the "Landscape as History" view?
Why? Provide a local example.
8. What
group of scholars and workers utilize the "Landscape as Place"
view? Why? Provide a local ex
9. Which 2-3 views do you favor? Why?
Week 4 (9/15-9/19)
It is time for you to buy and
begin to read the book Walking the Flatlands. The book store has
it.
Due
Tuesday: Read the foreword and
pages 9-30 in Walking the Flatlands.
Points to address and questions to answer.
1. Who is Mike Madison?
2. How did he get this book published? Who published
it?
3. What main question does Madison attempt to answer?
4. What is the "bioregional perspective"?
5. How did Gary Snyder propose that we could "become
native to a place"? What is your opinion of this pursuit?
6. Madison's discussion of a standpipe is similar to the
work of what geographer? How so?
7. Explain why the Sacramento Valley is flat.
Incorporate natural and human forces in your explanation.
8. What physical and human factors interrupt the grid of
roads in the Sacramento Valley?
9. How does parcel size determine the "texture of
the landscape"?
10. What advantages does the Mediterranean climate provide
to farmers?
11. What is the difference between a drain and a canal?
Due
on Thursday: Read pages 31-49 in Walking
the Flatlands.
Points
to address and questions to answer.
1. Contrast north
and south winds. Which one brings rain? Why doesnÕt Chico have such
pronounced Delta breezes?
2. Contrast the
presence of fog, clouds and thunder.
3. What has happened to
the prevalence of fire? Why?
4. How has woodland
acreage changed between 1800 and 2000? How? Why?
5. What is Butte
CountyÕs wetland vegetation substitute for tule swamps?
7. Of the Òfew notable
plantsÓ that Madison describes, which did you observe on our ride down 3rd St.?
In which situations?
8. What has happened to
the Òformal avenue of trees"? Why?
9. Summarize the
history of eucalypts in California.
10. Look at Figure
20. Where have you seen this?
11. As you travel the
rural areas around Chico make a note of where you observe old valley oaks in
settings similar to that shown on Figure 21.
Week 5 (9/22-9/26)
Due on
Tuesday
Read pages 51-66 in Walking
the Flatlands.
Points to address and questions to answer.
1. List 4 features of
the Putah Creek district that make it Òespecially favored for farmingÓ.
Does the Big Chico Creek watershed share those features?
http://bioregion.ucdavis.edu/book/Contents.html
http://www.bigchicocreek.org/nodes/aboutwatershed/ecr/maps/bigchico_3d_dem_s.jpg
http://www.bigchicocreek.org/nodes/aboutwatershed/ecr/maps.htm
2. Write one or two
statements that characterize the districtÕs 4 periods of farming.
http://www.bigchicocreek.org/nodes/aboutwatershed/ecr/watershed_history.htm
3. How was and is
farming in the Putah Creek district different from traditional farming back
east. Include a statement about ownership and labor.
4. Learn the variety of
crops grown. DonÕt list them. Just learn them.
http://callisto.lab.csuchico.edu/greatvalley/pages/sp_butte.html
5. What is the state of
livestock raising in the district? How is that odd considering the amount of
land devoted to forage production?
What type of livestock is most
numerous?
6. How has the timing
of soil tillage changed during the past100 years? What allowed the change
and what have been consequences of that change?
7. Learn how is
nitrogen cycled in a farm. What are the differences between leguminous
and chemical fertilizer as sources of nitrogen?
How is each
applied to a farm?
8. How do the bell
beans shown in Figure 28 influence that orchardÕs nitrogen budget?
Pic
Pic
9. As you observe our
agricultural landscapes, keep an eye out for the presence of the objects in
Figure 29.
10. Why is phosphorous
considered a nonrenewable resource?
11. How have growers of
greenhouse crops been indirectly experimenting with the effect of increased
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere on plant growth?
12. What is the
relationship of carbon to soil?
Also, Paul Wissler has
investigated the availability of maps at the web-site at this link: http://gis.ca.gov/DRG.epl
Once you have opened
the site, click on "Data Collections" in the left-hand column. Then click
on "California Digital Raster Graphics".
Then click on "The
California DRG MapSurfer Tool. (USGS developed Map Server client)" and
zoom in until you have the portion of the map that you need.
http://www.bcag.org/__planning/documents/2004_RTP/11Goods.pdf
http://phobos.lab.csuchico.edu/projects/veg_mapping/peterson/peterson_base_s.pdf
Week 6 (9/29-10/3)
Review
due on Tuesday
Read pages 67-76
in Walking the Flatlands.
Points to address and questions to answer.
1. Summarize the three general
energy uses on a farm.
2. Compare energy use
associated with orchard, corn and beef and beef production.
3. What are MadisonÕs
ideas related to the district becoming self-sufficient in energy? How
much of the land would be required? What crops?
4. Why the current
monoculture in the district?
5. Summarize MadisonÕs
discussion of organic agriculture. Include the following terms in your
summary: definition, energy use, price premium.
6. Summarize the
changes that Madison would like to see for more healthy farming.
7. Write a few
sentences in which you express your opinion about MadisonÕs discussion of ÒThe
Rural Landscape as Urban AmenityÓ.
Review
due on Thursday, October 4.
Read pages 83-89
in Walking the Flatlands.
Points to address and questions to answer.
1. What 2-3 aspects of
the Central Valley's physical geography led to widespread adoption of combines?
Why the name "combine"?
2. Summarize the
history of farm machinery innovation in the Central Valley and its influence on
farm size.
3. Summarize the 3 ways
big farming affects the landcape? Use these terms in your summary: bank,
bare, chemicals, orchardists, farmstead.
4. Why do some farms
have what appears to be a large pile of junk?
Week 7 (10/6-10/10)
Due on
Tuesday, October 9.
Read pages 93- 113
in Walking the Flatlands.
Points to address and questions to answer.
1. Find a web-site(s)
that has images of each of the 6 house types that Madison mentions on
p.94. Copy the URL(s) onto your review. Begin looking for these
types of houses around Chico and note their locations.
2. What does Madison
mean by "cycles of abandonment" being a "feature of the rural
landscape"? Have we seen any local examples?
3. Why are Butte
County's "old mansions" inaccurate samples of 19th century housing?
4. Where have you seen
the house in Figure 45? What style is it? ?
5. How is the modern
rural residential landscape more egalitarian than that of the 19th century?
6. What was/is the
functon of the barn "beak"?
7. When did barns
become less uniform? Why?
8. Explain the
structure of tank towers.
9. What new kinds of
fences are found in "the district"? With which land uses and
owners are they associated?
10. Summarize Madison's
thoughts about orderly and disorderly farmsteads and the people who maintain
them.
Week 8 (10/13-10/17)
Field Trip Quiz Show, Episode 2.
Review
due on Tuesday, October 16.
http://www.benchmarkdevelopmentco.com/
Read pages 114-
127 in Walking the Flatlands.
Points to address and questions to answer.
1.Summarize Madison's
account of changes in housing. Utilize the following terms in your summary:
area, family size, stuff, time indoors, house cost vs. salary.
2. How does the price
of land influence the sizes and costs of new houses?
3. Explain Madison's
claim that townscapes are simply "compressed rural landscapes".
4. What kind of
townscape does he recommend? Would you like to live in this sort of
townscape? Why? Why not?
5. Explain Madison's
statement,"What had formerly been house-as process has become
house-as-object".
6. Summarize the
"Dynamics of Urban Growth" section. Utilize the following terms in
your summary: periphery, center, trees, historic preservation.
7. What does Madison
mean when he says that some landscapes are a "cacaphony of
shouting"?
8. Explain Madison's
idea that a greenbelt can function like a medieval town's fortress walls.
9. How has open space
changed in Davis during the past ~50 years?
10. Read p.124-125 for
your own enjoyment.
11. What is your
opinion of Madison's discussion of lawn culture?
12. What is your
opinion of Madison's prescription for "successful small
cities"?
Review
due on Thursday, October 18.
Landscape Guide Entry Instructions
Read pages 129-
156 in Walking the Flatlands.
Points to address and questions to answer.
1. How does a
developer earn his money from farmland?
2. What are the 3
components of the value of rural land?
3. What is the
relationship between farmland's agricultural value and speculative
value?
4. What are
the 2 consequences of this relationship in the rural landscape?
5. How are
"would-be" farmers alienated from the farmland?
6. How does the Swedish
government regulate sales of farmland?
7. Explain how
wealth has reduced the "coherence" of the district's
landscape.
8. Write a paragraph in
which you describe your impressions of Madison's book.
Week 9 (10/20-10/24)
Tuesday,
October 23. Tour of Chico's Original Residential Neighborhood.
Meet at 3:30 on the
corner of 4th and Chestnut.
Turn in a
list of addresses and justifications that corresponds to each of the house
types.
Thursday
We'll
do something. Don't cut class.
Week 10 (10/27-11/1)
Tuesday
Name That House Type. On Tuesday, October 30th you will turn in a
paper in which you identify the house styles found at the addresses below.
You will also write
one or two sentences in which you identify the architectural features that
support your answers.
1. 519 W. 5th St.
2. 1171 Woodland
3. 797 E. 8th St.
4. 1155 Woodland Ave.
5. 344 Flume St.
6. 596 E. 7th St.
7.488 E. 3rd St.
8. 870 E. 5th St.
Also On
Tuesday, you will turn in your draft of your first landscape field guide
entry. See the link in Week 8 for instructions.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Population/Photos/
Thursday. Class
begins at 4:15. I'll give you instructions for a field exercise.
Week 11 (11/3-11/7)
No class on Tuesday
Week 12 (11/10-11/14)
Tuesday:
Meet in front of Bidwell Presbyterian Church at 3:30.
Bring
your 5 choices for repeat photography.
Thursday:
Repeat
photography assignment
Week 13 (11/17-11/21)
Week 14 (11/24-11/28)
Thanksgiving Break
Tuesday.
Second draft of
Landscape Field Guide Entry due.
Bring $2 to class.
Thursday.
Repeat
photography assignment due.
Residential block exercise re-writes due.
Bring $2 to class, if you didn't
bring it on Tuesday.
Week 15 (12/1-12/5)
Tuesday. Final Landscape Description Assignment.
Thursday. Come ready to walk in the fog, rain or sun.
Optional
Pick up your 2nd draft
of your landscape field guide entry from the envelope stapled to the bulletin
board outside of my office. Make suggested revisions and turn in a digital copy
of the image and text on a cd-rom on Thursday, December 14.
Here's a web-site that
has some historic photos of Chico. Here's the link: http://www.jiminchico.com/photoalbums/oldchico/index.html
Week 16 (12/8-12/12)
Tuesday. Come ready to walk in the fog, rain or sun.
Optional
Thursday. Come ready to walk in the fog, rain or sun.
Optional
On Thursday I'll be
heading to the Avenue 9 Gallery for the Annual Chico Icons show. The gallery's
address is 180 E. 9th Ave., Ste 3. They close
at 4, so I'm hoping to arrive at 3:30. http://www.avenue9gallery.com/
Week 17 (12/15-12/19)
Landscape
Narrative due by Tuesday, 5 pm.
Personal Evaluations Due on Thursday:
Type a few paragraphs in which you answer the
following questions:
1. What grade have you
earned in this course?
2. On what evidence do you
base your grade?
3. Have you learned to read
cultural landscapes during this semester? If so, provide an example.
4. Has this course changed
the way(s) you look at cultural landscapes? If so, how?
5. Which landscape or
landscape component did you enjoy most this semester?
6. What are your plans for
the Christmas break?
