LIBS640

This seminar explores the sense of place as revealed in literature. The knowledgeable appreciation of place rests on a foundation of history, physical geography, and culture, and has been expressed through superb works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. On a personal level, the cultivation of place awareness enriches one's experience of life. For society as a whole, the appreciation of place is a necessary element of harmonious and sustainable inhabitation. Conversely, the widespread absence of this knowledge and appreciation contributes mightily to ecological destruction and to the "faceless ubiquity" of so many modern American landscapes. The writings we will examine range widely, including writers from different parts of the world and different time periods, but the greatest emphasis is on contemporary American literature.