Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Space Of The Social, Christopher D. Wilkes

Christopher D Wilkes

This is chapter two of the Jane Austen book-length project, Social Jane. Landscape, houses and estates form the backdrop to much of what happens in the Austen novels, and Austen is entirely familiar with the theories of landscape of her time. She sets about debunking Whig improvers, while decimating the pretensions of the Tory do-nothings she saw around her. Benign and cautious progress seems to be her preferred model of land management. The chapter rehearses the social and architectural theories of her time, shows her use of these theories in her characters and in her work, and tries to liberate …

Hidden In Plain Sight: Tehran's Empowering Protean Spaces, Sara Khorshidifard

Sara Khorshidifard

As a recent citizen I noticed Tehran's urge for new kinds of public spaces. So, I initiated a dissertation that outlined a call for "protean space." Cities need protean spaces as a means to empower people, places that offer social interaction and support--spaces that are safe, accessible, and intriguing. Protean spaces empower people to create places for personal and interpersonal relationships, make social connections, gain information, and build trust across varied networks. My dissertation examined how planning and design practices can enhance the possibility of protean spaces and therefore increase their number. While my research concerns Tehran, all cities benefit …

Uncovering And Recovering Cleared Galloway: The Lowland Clearances And Improvement In Scotland, Christine B. Anderson

Doctoral Dissertations

This study seeks to understand the removal of people from the land as symptomatic of two narratives based in the colonial and capital enterprises, clearing and Improvement. Spatially, this relationship has been constructed around the distances between two players: the beneficiaries of the colonial enterprise, namely core, western and European based countries, and the subaltern or peripheral populations usually located at great distances from the sites of inception. These peripheral spaces were the locations of immense change in terms of both material culture and historical memories. Here, these moments are explored within the small, defined space of Galloway, Scotland, which …

An Eerie Jungle Filled With Dragonflies, Sniper Bullets And Ghosts: Changing Perceptions Of Vietnam And The Vietnamese Through The Eyes Of American Troops, Matthew M. Herrera

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the changing perceptions of Vietnam’s landscape and the Vietnamese in the eyes of American troops throughout the Vietnam War. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Vietnamese were depicted as a people misguided by the French and in need of political mobilization by the American media and government. Following heavy investment and a rigged election in 1956, South Vietnam was painted as a beacon of democracy in Southeast Asia and an example of what American aid is capable of. As an increasing American military presence was being established in South Vietnam in the early 1960s, American …

Green Space, Luralyn M. Helming

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Our time spent looking at, experiencing, and engaging with nature improves our lives."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the psychological benefits of time spent outdoors from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/green-space/

Lawn Dissidents: Performing Whiteness Through Sustainability In Urban Residential Yards, Amy Lebowitz

Geography Honors Projects

“Lawn dissidents” are people who violate norms of turfgrass yards often found in suburbia. This thesis uses ethnographic methods to examine how these subjects’ sustainability-oriented lawn alternatives create meaning by manifesting values and performing identities. I argue that such lawn alternatives operate as positional goods that inscribe exclusion into landscapes. “Green” yardscapes yield social and environmental benefits to “dissidents” while burying the ways capitalism codes lawn alternatives, enacting a regime of whiteness no better for equity and inclusion than suburban lawns. Nonetheless, I turn hopefully to sharing economies as tools to expand sustainability initiatives beyond elite, eco-conscious whiteness.

Imperiling Our Children: An Interview With Fred Stenson About Who By Fire, Jon Gordon

The Goose

This interview with Alberta novelist Fred Stenson focuses on his most recent novel, Who By Fire. The discussion examines the role of environmentalists and the legal system in responding to the oil and gas industry in Alberta, as well as other issues connected to Stenson's work.

Landscape Preferences, Amenity, And Bushfire Risk In New South Wales, Australia, Nicholas J. Gill, Olivia V. Dun, Christopher R. Brennan-Horley, Christine Eriksen

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines landscape preferences of residents in amenity-rich bushfire-prone landscapes in New South Wales, Australia. Insights are provided into vegetation preferences in areas where properties neighbor large areas of native vegetation, such as national parks, or exist within a matrix of cleared and vegetated private and public land. In such areas, managing fuel loads in the proximity of houses is likely to reduce the risk of house loss and damage. Preferences for vegetation appearance and structure were related to varying fuel loads, particularly the density of understorey vegetation and larger trees. The study adopted a qualitative visual research approach, …