Geography is Everywhere: Landscapes of the University of Texas

Project Overview

The first group project asks your group to draw upon the concepts in the first 2 articles in the reader in order to:

1. Visit and describe the landscape of a site on or near the University of Texas at Austin.
2. Analyze that site using Meinig’s categories in "The Beholding Eye"

Each person will use a different category from Meinig’s article to describe the site, and then the group will bring these perspectives together to create a website which demonstrates various ways a cultural geographer looks at a landscape.

This project must be completed by the 4^th week of the course. During the 4^th week, your group will give a presentation about the site in your discussion section.

Project Steps

1. Begin by reading the first 2 articles in the course reader –

Cosgrove, "Geography is Everywhere: Culture and Symbolism in Human Landscapes"

Meinig, "The Beholding Eye – Ten Versions of the Same Scene".

These articles offer an overview of cultural geography and the term cultural landscape. These concepts will be referred to throughout the course, so you should read these articles carefully and look at the relevant pages on this website for additional clarification. If Meinig's article is unclear, ask your TA to review the article in your discussion section.

 

2. Working as a group, select a place on or near campus that you will report on. Please select one site from the list of places. During the 2^nd week of the semester, you will notify your TA what site you have chosen.

3.Each group member will select a different way of viewing your sight from one of the ten ways described in Meinig’s "The Beholding Eye".

4. Visit your site and answer the following questions:

• What is it?
• Where is it on campus?
• Size and shape?
• Color and appearance?
• What function does it serve?
• What are people doing there?

5. Create a page on your group website entitled Group Project One that reports your answers to the above questions. See example. Type this information in a word processing program. Refer to the group website page for directions about how to save the document in hypertext and load it on your website.

6. Each group member will then write a one page description of your site from their chosen perspective. This description should use Meinig’s terminology and concepts, demonstrating your understanding of Meinig’s article. Answer the following questions:

• What are the key components of your chosen perspective according to Meinig?
• How are these components revealed in your site?

6. Add these 5 pages to your group website and link them to the Group Project One page. See example.

*** This step must be completed by the end of the 3^rd week of the course. ***

7. During the 4^th week, your group will make a presentation about your site in your discussion section. Present the following information about your site:

• What is it?
• Where is it on campus?
• Size and shape?
• Color and appearance?
• What function does it serve?
• What are people doing there?
• Why did your group select this site?
• Explain the site from your individual perspectives.