Course Description:

This seminar course explores the subject of Place.  The Romans called it genius loci. Modern thinkers and writers call it “a sense of place.” Place is not mere geography.  It is a cerebral and emotional blend of associations, an awareness that is part physical, part science, and part history, culture and social memory.  Today, diverse disciplines are rekindling an awareness of the importance of the concept of place.   This course uses place as an opportunity to explore the phenomenon itself as well as the values underlying our individual and subjective choices of places that are significant to us personally and that relate to each student’s particular Liberal Studies curricular concentration.

The approach of the seminar is both individual and interactive. Place is, in the end, subjective and personal, but the course attempts to assist that individual exploration in a communitarian way.  Each student will work from an initial list of their own places and then, with readings and discussion with the class, will work toward a detailed examination of a selected place from a multiplicity of perspectives.  The final product is a scholarly exposition of that place.  The objective is to understand the power of place as it may reveal both values and identity.