Social Landscapes in a Global View

From the beginning of the human campaign, societies have socialized the spaces and places where they live. This socialization comes in many forms, including the generation of sacred natural places (e.g., Mt. Fuji) to the construction of planned urban settings where culture is writ large in overt and subtle contexts. Over the past two decades or so, anthropologists, archaeologists, and geographers have developed a wide body of research concerning these socially constructed and perceived settings -- commonly known as "landscapes". This course takes a tour through time and across the globe to trace the formation of diverse social landscapes, starting in prehistoric times and ending in modern times. We will cover various urban landscapes, rural landscapes, nomadic landscapes (and others) and the intersection of the natural environment, the built environments, and the symbolism that weaves them together. Chronologically, we will range from 3000 BCE to 2009 CE and we will cover all the continents. This course will also trace the intellectual history of the study of landscape as a social phenomenon, and will investigate the current methods used to recover and describe social landscapes around the world and through time. Join in situating your own social map alongside the most famous and the most obscure landscapes of the world and trace the global currents of your social landscape!
Course Attributes: EN S; BU BA; BU IS; AS LCD; AS SSC; FA SSC; AR SSC; UC CD

Social Landscapes in a Global View

AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES 3742

Section 01