Instructions 

The written work for the course includes twelve blog posts, a midterm and final, and a dozen or so comments on other blogs.  The posts should be about 400 to 500 words, with a picture and, if relevant, a location indicated on the map that appears at the end of the post.  The posts can be a personal response to the reading or they can provide some helpful information.  The comments (about 50-100 words) may develop a point further, pose a question, or suggest a link. 

Due dates: The posts are due on Monday, so that there’s some time to read them over before class on Tuesday.  The comments are due by Thursday.

Assn. #1: Describe a "good place."

Post by noon, Thursday, Jan. 22

Describe "a good place."  It could be a childhood place you remember fondly (grandma's house in the country), your dorm or apartment (or a room in it), the place where you're sitting when you write the post (a great café), a place you went on holiday, or a neighborhood, town or city.  It could be a static description (like a landscape painting) or something "in motion," e.g., you could take us for a walk through the place.  If you like, include a picture.  The instructions for posts are here. The instructions for inserting images are here.  When you post, remember to give your post a title and to scroll to "Sense of Place" in the courses box and to "Good place" in the topic box. 

Assn. #2: Kunstler (1).

Post by Mon., Jan. 26

Reading: For Tuesday, read Kunstler’s Geography of Nowhere, chapters 1 to 6, and for Thursday, chapters 7 and 8.

Blog: Post an image that illustrates something in the first half of The Geography of Nowhere, and write a comment about what Kunstler has to say about the topic represented in the image. For example, post an image of the grid layout of one of the cities in Chapter 3 and write about your experience of that city. Or post a picture of one of the early suburbs in Chapter 4, and write about your impressions of the place. Or post an image of one of the buildings referred to in Chapter 5 and discuss it. The idea is just to provide a visual aid to what Kunstler is talking about and to say something about it.  Check out the list of suggested readings—you could write about something you discover in one of these readings, and make a text link to the site.

Comment: Write a comment on someone else's blog post.

Assn. #3: Kunstler (2).

Post by Mon., Feb. 2

Reading: For Tuesday, read Kunstler, Geography of Nowhere, chapters 9-12, and for Thursday, chapter 13.

Blog: Post an image that illustrates something in the second half of The Geography of Nowhere, and write a comment about what Kunstler has to say about the topic represented in the image and your thoughts on his thoughts. For example, post an image of Disneyworld or Seaside or Las Vegas or one of the domestic housing styles, and write about your impressions or experience of the place. As with the first Kunstler post, the idea is just to provide a visual aid to what Kunstler is talking about.

Comment: Remember to write a comment on someone else's blog post.

Assn. #4: Waldie

Post by Mon., Feb. 9

Reading: For Tuesday, Feb. 10, read Waldie’s Holy Land.

Blog: Post a comment and an image responding to Holy Land.  Think about Waldie's "sense of place" as it relates to themes like the grid, the history of the place, race and religion, spiritual grace, staying put, telling stories about a place, the profundity of the quotidian, the book's title, etc.  Remember to write a comment on someone else's blog post.

Assn. #5: Jackson (1).

Post by Mon., Feb. 16

Reading: J. B. Jackson, Landscape in Sight, pp. ix - 182.

Blog: Post a comment and image that relates to the Jackson reading.  Your post doesn't have to be a personal response or an opinion piece (though you may enjoy re-reading Kunstler's take on Jackson in The Geography of Nowhere, pp. 122-124). You might, for example, draw our attention to some other relevant websites you've discovered, with a short comment about what's on these sites and links to them.  Remember to write a comment on someone else's post.

Assn. #6: Jackson (2).

Post by Mon., Feb. 23

Reading: J. B. Jackson, Landscape in Sight, second half.

Blog: Post a comment and image that relates to Jackson reading.  Remember to write a comment on someone else's post.

Essays to focus on for Tuesday: "From Monument to Place," "Thoreau, Jefferson, and After," “Other-Directed Houses," "The Abstract World of the Hot-Rodder," "The Moveable Dwelling and How it Came to America,” “An Engineered Environment” and “The Vernacular City.”

Essays to focus on for Thursday: "Living Outdoors with Mrs. Panther (Ajax)," "Southeast to Turkey," "Whither Architecture? Some Outside Views," “The Word Itself," “By Way of Conclusion: How to Study the Landscape,” and "The Tale of a House"

Assn. #7: Midterm.

Post by Tues., March 3 (class time).

Details are here.

Assn. #8: Tuan (1).

Post by Mon., March 9

Read the first half of Tuan’s Space and Place for Tuesday, March 24.

Post a blog entry responding to the book, and comment on someone else's blog post.

Assn. #9: Tuan (2).

Post by Mon., March 23

Finish Tuan’s Space and Place for Tuesday, March 24.

Post a blog entry responding to something in the second half of the book, and comment on someone else's blog post.

Assn. #10: Auster.

Post by Mon., March 30

Read Auster’s City of Glass for Tuesday, April 22.

Post a blog entry responding to the book, and comment on someone else's blog post.  For your post, think about the title of the story, or about the absence of a sense of place—the “nowhere” of the city, the sense of nothingness—or about the walks which feature prominently in the novel—how are they similar to and different from other kinds of walking?

Assn. #11: Frazier.

Post by Mon., April 6

Read Frazier’s Gone to New Yorkfor Tuesday, April 22.

Post a blog entry responding to the book, and comment on someone else's blog post.

Assn. #12: Whitehead.

Post by Mon., April 13

Read Whitehead's Colossus of New York for Tuesday, April 22.

Post a blog entry responding to the book, and comment on someone else's blog post.

Assn. #13-14: Final Project (with "interview")

Post by Tues., April 21 (at class time)

The instructions are here.

Assn. #15: Final Thoughts.

Post by Tues., April 27

For this post, you can write what you want.  You can look back over the blog and see what strikes you, write something like a course evaluation, return to a theme that came up earlier, relate something from one of your other courses to sense of place, talk about where you'll be traveling this summer, tell a story—whatever you think will give some closure to your blog and the semester.