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Louisiana: A Geographic Interpretation. Martha L. Henderson, Ph.D. May 1, 2006. Louisiana – An Outsider’s Perspective. Where is Louisiana on the American landscape? Geography at LSU Learning and living in a foreign place. American Landscapes. Landscapes:
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Louisiana: A Geographic Interpretation Martha L. Henderson, Ph.D. May 1, 2006
Louisiana – An Outsider’s Perspective • Where is Louisiana on the American landscape? • Geography at LSU • Learning and living in a foreign place
American Landscapes • Landscapes: Legacies of Past Ideas and Ideals Records of Culture Representative Symbolic Inclusive of physical environment Social construction
Fields of Landscape Study • Landscapes are bounded areas • Multi-layered and temporally sensitive • Located within a ‘grid’ of identifiers • Comparable • Varying value • A set of relationships and processes • Multi-cultural • Interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinary Representation • American Studies • Landscape Architecture • History • Anthropology • Geography
Geography • Not the subject you learned in 6th grad • The study of the surface of Earth, both physical and cultural processess • A social science • The study of spatial relationships and place • Place: cultural landscapes cultural or political ecology cultural geography
Geographical Studies of Landscape • Culture or political processes • Cultural or political indicators • Significant landscapes or places • Formal or folk • Where is it? Why is it? How did it become this? Who are the major agents? What is the structure
Department of Geography and AnthropologySchool of Geoscience Louisiana State University • Physical Geography • Coastal Geomorphology • Climatology • Biogeography • Fluvial Geography GIS
Berkeley School of Geography“muddy boots geographers” • Cultural Geography - Dr. Fred Kniffen, LSU The study of regional variation of material culture indicators: architecture, religion, language, agriculture, food, music, ect. Tracing origins, transformations, integration, adaptation, diffusion Asking major questions about human creativity, evolution, local vs global, sustainability, and resource management Ethnographic Methods/ Field Work/American South/ Central American regions and landscapes (non-quantitative)
Louisiana Landscapes at LSU • Studied in conjunction with anthropologists including archaeologists • Mapping diffusion of form and function • Multi-cultural and historically rich region
Louisiana: Where is it? • Not part of the ‘western migration’ story • On the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean • Mouth of the Mississippi River • More in common with remote areas of North American than immediate surrounding area
Culturally Diverse • Significantly diverse cultures in a small area • Native • African • European • Spanish • French • British A landscape created by external forces
Multi-culturalism and Landscape • Representative cultural indicators/group • Acculturation processes • Cultural transformation • Ecological processes and disaster
Material Culture as Indicators • House types • Food • Religious practices • Language
Coping with Natural DisastersOver Time • Extreme Events • Major Events • Minor Events Science? Technology? Metaphysical beliefs?
A Few Historical Events • Interactions with native groups • Classes of settlers: • Landowners • Labor pools – African/European immigrants • Cajuns
20th Century Population Changes Discovery of oil Transition from ag economy to timber/lumber production (ties to PNW) Creation of petroleum industry World War II impact on Cajun culture Katrina: out-migration from New Orleans and southern parishes nationalization with military of petroleum production region