Geography
439.01: American Cultural Landscapes
Syllabus
Warning: If you are a geography major who has enrolled in GEOG 439
but not yet passed GEOG 309, I strongly encourage you to drop 439. Do not try to pass this class and
GEOG 439 during the same semester. Instead, you should take GEOG 309 this
semester. If you pass it, then
take GEOG 439 during fall of 2010.
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 2009
Dr. Scott Brady
TR:
3:30-4:45
Office: 523 Butte Hall
Location:
Butte 101
Phone:
898-5588
Office Hours:
MWF 9:30-10:30, Th 1:30-2:00
mailto:sbrady@csuchico.edu
Geography
Computer Lab: Butte 501
Hours: ?
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:
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 (8/24-8/28)
Book for sale!!!
8/27 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 (8/31-9/4)
Required
Reading:
Hart,
John Fraser. Understanding Landscape.
Review due on Tuesday. 9/1/09
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.
9/3/09
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 (9/7-9/11)
No class on Tuesday, September 8: Furlough Day
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 Thursday. 9/9/09
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 example.
9.
Which 2-3 views do you favor? Why?
Assignment due on Thursday 9/17
Week 4 (9/14-9/18)
It is time for you to buy and begin to read the book Walking
the Flatlands. The bookstore has it.
Due Thursday: Read the foreword and pages 9-30 in Walking the
Flatlands.
Points to address and questions to answer.
1.
Who
is Mike Madison? http://www.culinate.com/mix/dinner_guest?author=4634
2.
How
did he get this book published? Who published it? http://bioregion.ucdavis.edu/
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? http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7493184569903349861&q=%22nctv11+interviews%22+-thevideosense&total=48&start=0&num=10&so=1&type=search&plindex=7
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?
Week 5 (9/21-9/25)
Due on Tuesday: 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?
6. Of
the Òfew notable plantsÓ that Madison describes, can you identify?
7.
What has happened to the Òformal avenue of trees"? Why?
8.
Summarize the history of eucalypts in California.
9.
Look at Figure 20. Where have you seen this?
10. 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.
Due on Thursday: Read pages 51-66 in Walking the Flatlands.
Hey
Folks. You see the links that I have inserted after questions? I use those links in class to
demonstrate concepts, display local examplesÉ You do not need to refer to them to answer the questions. I
apologize for any confusion that I caused by not explaining these links
earlier.
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.
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 past 100 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?
Week 6 (9/28-10/2)
Due
Thursday, October 1.
Topographic
map sources:
http://casil.ucdavis.edu/mapsurfer/
http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/
http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=69765&lid=puff_836926&lpos=lasMer
http://www.bcag.org/__planning/documents/2004_RTP/11Goods.pdf
http://phobos.lab.csuchico.edu/projects/veg_mapping/peterson/peterson_base_s.pdf
Week 7 (10/5-10/9)
Review due on Tuesday, October 6
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 8.
Read
pages 83-89 in Walking the Flatlands.
http://www.sacbee.com/livinghere/story/2060290.html
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 landscape? 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?
Oak Way re-writes due on Thursday, October 8.
Week 8 (10/12-10/16)
Due on Tuesday, October 13
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.
Have you seen a house similar to the one shown in Figure 45 near Chico?
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 function 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.
No class on Thursday, October 15. Campus-wide furlough dayÉ.grrrrrr.
Week 9 (10/19-10/23)
Due Tuesday, October 27
Review due on Thursday, October 22.
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 "cacophony
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"?
Week 10 (10/26-10/30)
Durham Fieldtrip reports due Tuesday, October 27. WeÕll do something in class.
Madison review due on Thursday, October 29. Slide your review
under my office door, Butte 523.
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.
Thursday, October 29 Field Exercise
Week 11 (11/2-11/6)
Tuesday
We'll do something. Don't cut class.
Thursday, November 5 Field Exercise
Week 12 (11/9-11/13)
Tuesday
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Population/Photos/
Thursday, November 12 Field Exercise
Week 13 (11/16-11/20)
Tuesday
Meet in front of Bidwell Presbyterian Church at 3:30.
Thursday:
Repeat
geography assignment due. Slide your paper under my office door. No
Class.
Week 14 (11/23-11/27)
Thanksgiving Break
Message to students in BradyÕs GEOG 439 Fall 2009 course: Do not follow any of the instructions
below this line.
Week 15 (11/30-12/4)
Tuesday.
Thursday.
Repeat
photography assignment due.
Residential block exercise re-writes due.
Week 16 (12/7-12/11)
Tuesday. Final Landscape Description Assignment.
Thursday. Come ready to walk in the fog, rain or sun.
Optional
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 17 (12/14-12/18)
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/
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?
