preparations for 18 November session
Read these
Tuan, Y. (1977). Space and place: The perspective of experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
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Intimate Experiences of Place
pp. 136-148 -
Attachment to Homeland
pp. 149-160
Preston, D. J. (1992). Cities of gold: A journey across the American Southwest in pursuit of Coronado. New York: Simon & Schuster.
The Iroquois and their passports: Unfair play. The travails of a lacrosse team. The Economist, Jul 22nd 2010 | WASHINGTON, DC
Iroquois Defeated by Passport Dispute By Thomas Kaplan, New York Times: July 16, 2010
Think about these issues
Ponder how close some cultures are to their sense of place and being? Consider how close your personal culture fits these descriptions.
Ponder when an attachment to homeland is a positive thing and ask yourself if it can ever also become a negative, or something self-defeating.
Read the Preston chapters, then ask yourself if "American" culture is, in its depths, as much African and Spanish as English. Ponder also the depth of historical memory expressed in the later chapters and ask yourself if this is necessarily a good thing, or is it (in this context) perhaps a "necessary" thing.
Ponder the Zuni and the Iroquois and the sense of "differentness" between the America we know and the America within the bounds of their "intimate experience of place."