LEARNING MODULE 03 GEOGRAPHY of UTAH

LEARNING MODULE 03 – GEOGRAPHY of UTAH

PLACE – second of the five themes of GEOGRAPHY.

LM03CC00 – PLACE – Sense of Place – Learning Module OVERVIEW

There are three ways to reach the content of learning modules:

(1) Read this web page on the web and links to images.

(2) Watch and listen to the digital version of the lecture (audio and visuals) by LINKing from the table (below)

(3) Read the notes, initial draft of this lecture (LINK in the table below to the .doc text. It does not link to figures. Its advantage is that it can be printed out for notes.

(4) Eventually the lectures will have MP3… but until they have “LINK” below, they are inactive

THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS MODULE IS to explore the concept of “a sense of place.”

WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW INCLUDES:

Geography is: LINK

GEOG3600 – Geography of Utah’s 17 Words

Five themes of GEOGRAPHY
Five subsystems of EARTH SYSTEMS (meaning physical geography)
Seven perspectives of SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES (meaning human geography)

LOCATION… spatial reference… where is…

A couple announcements… but most of this is on WebCT/Blackboard/Vista under announcements or under COURSE OUTLINE

LINK to UTAH in the NEWS – LM03UT-news

MLK day… individuals make a difference –

Wally Sandack funeral

Alberta Henry

Alberta Henry Foundation

Other scholarships… don’t be reticent. LINK to dept of geography scholarship info

MAJOR CONCEPT:

PLACE is the second of the “five themes of geography” because PLACE includes our connection to a LOCATION not just where it is. PLACE is all about the web of relationships among peoples, places, and the environment.

LINKS (LM = learning module; CC = content chunk)

LM / CC / Lecture Notes / LINKS to lecture chunks / MP3 - only
03 / 01 / Overview – PLACE / Download the MSWord file, in .doc format.
LINK / LINK / Not active
03 / 02 / Place and Placelessness - Stegner / LINK
03 / 03 / Components of a sense of place / LINK
03 / 04 / Place - definitions / LINK
03 / 05 / Place Names - connectedness / LINK
03 / 06 / Landmarks: physical and cultural / LINK
03 / 07 / Counties – places to understand… names to learn / LINK
03 / 08 / Connectedness to counties – human and physical geography / LINK
03 / 09 / So what? / LINK
03 / 10 / HW05 coachings / LINK
03 / 11 / Intro to Google Earth / LINK
Self Quizzes: go toWebCT/Blackboard/Vista ASSESSMENTS. / Not posted 1/17, check back 1/18

LM03-CC01 – Overview - PLACE and Geography of Utah

Reminder: when Brigham Young came into this valley in 1847… he didn't’ say “this is the location, drive on.” He said… or is reported to have said… This is the place… drive on…

That’s core to what we mean by PLACE and A SENSE OF PLACE

LINK to this is the PlaceMonument

BY THE END OF THIS LECTURE

You should be clear that the concept of “place” is not a clear concept. Some geographers consider “place” to be “place names.” Some geographers consider place an integral part of human well-being.

You should be able to discuss:

What is meant by a sense of place
How a sense of place differs from a sense of direction
Whether it is possible to have a sense of place about a place which you (a) dislike; (b) is not your home; (c) where you've never been...
What is meant by a boundary
How geographers set boundaries
How Brigham Young and the LDS pioneers defined boundaries for SaltLake, Weber, Davis, and Utah counties...
Advantages and disadvantages of administrative boundaries set along geographic coordinates versus along natural features...
and Why location is important to a place, and, conversely, why place is important to a location

You'll know that according to some geographers and philosophers naming a place, or a person, or a pet is a way to connect... and you'll be introduced to Utah's counties and their names.

You'll understand that "place" is one of the five themes of geography and be able to articulate why it is one of the five themes... it connects us to a location, if only by its name.

You also should understand HW05-Chapter 2 – Landmarks of the Atlas for a Utah School Project

And know how to negotiate Google Earth (not Google maps, but Google Earth).

REPEAT: major concept:

LM03-CC02 – Wallace Stegner – place and placelessness

Thought questions:

Would you consider yourself a “placed” person or a “displaced” person or a “placeless” person… and what would you explore as you discuss the differences.

Stegner1992 LINK to book jacket of Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs, essay on The Sense of Place.

LINK to full text,

GA link to excerpts... LINK Stegner1992-SenseOfPlaceGAExcerpts

So what?

Sense of place… or “place attachment” is the subject of considerable research.

Topic of modern western US literature (Terry Tempest Williams; Ivan Doig, even Tony Hillerman)

Grade school students who are “placeless” do not to as well in school as student with a sense of place, even if it is for somewhere else.

Grounded

LM03-CC03 – Components of a sense of place

Yi-Fu Tuan - SPACE and PLACE

Related concepts: home, habitat

Concept of safety, where one lives, OR where one feels at home, even if it isn’t home

Sense of place and a sense of scale

Sense of state heritage or country heritage; versus community or school

Connections - some articulated, some not.

Landmarks and names.

SENSE of DIRECTION versus a SENSE of PLACE

A sense of direction is not the same as a sense of place

Both can be developed...

A sense of direction versus cookie crumb directions

A poor sense of direction can be a handicap that can be partially overcome

Visualization – picture, in your mind’s eye, where you live.

COMPONENTS of a sense of place: Familiarity, Connectedness, Understanding

Familiarity: landmarks both physical and human

Connectedness: activities, family, heritage, art, humanities

Names... place names

Story telling… history, landscape, place… geography

So what?

WHY see, understand, and appreciate…

A SENSE OF PLACE? It may bring satisfaction to better understand webs of relationships among people, places and environments. A goal of this course is to empower… to empower by attitude, meaning to explore and enhance one’s sense of place, one’s groundedness.

LM03-CC04– Places – not a clear concept, not a clear definition

So... here's the Mirriam Webster definition... but after this discussion, you should be able to discuss what geographers mean by place.

Main Entry:1place

Pronunciation:\ˈplās\

Function:noun

Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French, open space, from Latin platea broad street, from Greek plateia (hodos), from feminine of platys broad, flat; akin to Sanskrit pṛthu broad, Latin planta sole of the foot

Date:13th century

1 a: physical environment : spaceb: a way for admission or transitc: physical surroundings : atmosphere2 a: an indefinite region or expanse <all over the ∼>b: a building or locality used for a special purpose <a ∼ of learning> <a fine eating ∼>carchaic: the three-dimensional compass of a material object 3 a: a particular region, center of population, or location <a nice ∼ to visit>b: a building, part of a building, or area occupied as a home <our summer ∼> 4: a particular part of a surface or body : spot5: : relative position in a scale or series: asa: position in a social scale <kept them in their ∼>b: a step in a sequence <in the first ∼, it's none of your business>c: a position at the conclusion of a competition <finished in last ∼> 6 a: a proper or designated niche or setting <the ∼ of education in society>b: an appropriate moment or point <this is not the ∼ to discuss compensation — Robert Moses>c: a distinct condition, position, or state of mind <the postfeminist generation is in a different ∼ — Betty Friedan> 7 a: an available seat or accommodation <needs a ∼ to stay>b: an empty or vacated position <new ones will take their ∼> 8: the position of a figure in relation to others of a row or seriesespecially: the position of a digit within a numeral 9 a: remunerative employment : jobb: prestige accorded to one of high rank : status <an endless quest for preferment and ∼ — Time10: a public square : plaza11: a small street or court12: second place at the finish (as of a horse race)

— in place1also into placea: in an original or proper positionb: established, instituted, or operational <systems in place2: in the same spot without forward or backward movement <run in place

— in place of: as a substitute or replacement for : instead of

— out of place1: not in the proper or usual location

PLACES / LOCATIONS can be represented abstractly.

Maps. Models. Images.

GIS -- PLACES / LOCATIONS are represented as points, lines, or polygons and then given attributes, generally portrayed by color or symbols.

Points – mountain top… discuss SCALE --- when are cities “points” UTAH from space, UTAH on North America, UTAH in western United States, UofU in SLCounty.
Lines – (careful! Highways are linear features but BOUNDARIES may bound areas)
Polygons (areas) – counties

LM03-CC05– Place Names and connectedness

Story: not allowed to name a pet … unless going to keep it.

PLACE NAMES... NAMES and naming... are so important to sense of place, to connectedness.

Old school geography stressed names, PLACE names and boundaries.

What’s in a name? What is jargon? Why and how do we name places?

Committee on Geographic names... UTAH... USGS... official names

Utah names – good reference, although some errors – when you want / need to be professional, use official names

LM03-CC06– Landmarks – physical and cultural

Thought questions

How do you orient yourself, for example, in SaltLakeCounty?

When you are a tourist… what do you want to visit?

When you are coming home from a trip, what makes you feel that you are getting close to home?

Landmarks are a way that students can develop a sense of place. LINK to Bowen

Landmarks based on physical geography: 5 subsystems of Earth systems… and also… based on 7 perspectives of Soc and Behav

So what? If you intend to become a teacher or a parent, think about the importance of landmarks and how you might use landmarks to grow a sense of place or support a sense of direction.

LM03-CC07 – Counties – places to understand… names to learn

Thought questions:

Why memorize anything?

Why know where counties are in Utah?

If you’re taking Geography of Utah, is it reasonable to expect you to know where most of Utah’s counties are… why and why not?

UTAH COUNTIES:are the political subdivisions of Utah smaller than the state and larger than cities. Utah has 29 counties. Counties are the "regions" referenced in news reports, legislative appropriations, and property settlements. To understand the USA, it helps to know the 50 states. To understand Utah geography, it helps to know the 29 counties. LINK to map of US counties

Other reasons to learn the counties' names and locations? ... Take possession, connect to the place. Also... it shows you know your stuff. You gain ownership … hopefully. Memorization and learning. Reasons to not learn them... drudgery, may not make sense at the moment, may not have any connection to them yet.

Ways to learn the counties:

1) Understand them... what they are and how they have changed through Utah history.

2) Learn more about them, so they become familiar.

3) Picture them some way, either as places on a map or as landscapes.

4) Make connections even ones that are far fetched, so long as they are memorable.

5) Practice, practice, practice.

for example... Tim Edgar's interactive exercise: Utah's counties. LINK and LINK

1) How do Utah's counties compare with other regions... and why? LINK Back East, California around the Bay, Arizona, Idaho.

Understand them... What are COUNTIES? and compare with other governmental entities, specifically nations, countries, cities and towns. Main concepts... states have power granted by the U.S. Constitution. Counties in Utah have powers granted by the Utah constitution. Counties have greater status, more sovereignty, than cities and towns, because cities and towns are “creatures” of the state. Counties have courts, police powers, planning and zoning. Counties could take leadership on environmental concerns that transcend boundaries of incorporated areas. Counties are closer to the people than state governments. All states have them or an equivalent. For rural Utah... counties and allegiance in comparison to cities and ... school districts.

What are Utah's county boundaries based on...

(ad) geographic coordinates,

(b) natural features such as ridges, and streams, and combinations of them.

(d) arbitrary boundaries.

Atlas of UTAH LINKS ... evolution of county boundaries: 1850, 1852, 1856, 1866, 1870, 1888, 1896, 1917

1850s... Great Salt LakeCity existed before the State of Utah. Major changes in territorial boundaries. Boundaries were dominantly geographic and ran westward into present day Nevada and eastward into present day Colorado. Not many people. By 1888, looks a lot like today. Discuss Emery County splitting off Carbon (human geography... farmers versus miners); 1917 Daggett from Uintah, (physical geography... barrier of Uinta Mountains a hardship to folks north of divide); Today, still problems with Grand and Emery, taxes and migration of Green River; and tar sands lands of... Uintah?.

From D. Miller, almost as good but fewer time intervals: 1850-1860; 1870-1920

2) What do boundaries reveal about the relationships of people, places and environments?

3) Picture them some way, either as places on a map or as landscapes.

For all counties... and as background for each of your school atlases... here are some links to information about Utah's counties. My favorite link to county information is to the Utah History Encyclopedia. Another good source is State of Utah, the county listing is at: . Wikipedia can be unreliable as a source... but for Utah counties has interesting information and good maps...

Utah's Associations of CountyGovernmentsLINK AssocOfGovts.

Or go to the Utah Education Network LINK and search the county name.

Or go to Pioneer: Utah's Online Library LINK and type in the county name.

On reserve at Marriott: Utah History Suite CD with All 29 Utah Centennial County Histories ... and each of the hardback histories should be in the library stacks.

Or... Google the county... and link to their web site.

County / Assoc of Gvts link to map / Wikipedia. LocationMap CountyMap / Image from Bowen / Image from Hamblin, BYU / County website
Beaver / 5 County / Wik L C / Beaver / Beaver
Box Elder / Bear River / Wik L C / Box Elder / Box Elder
Cache / Bear River / Wik L C / Cache / Cache
Carbon / Southeast / Wik L C / Carbon / Carbon
Daggett / UintahBasin / Wik L C / DaggettII / Daggett
Davis / Wasatch Front / Wik L C / Davis / Davis
Duchesne / UintahBasin / Wik L C / Duchesne / Duchesne
Emery / Southeast / Wik L C / Emery / Emery
Garfield / 5 County / Wik L C / Garfield / Garfield
Grand / Southeast / Wik L C / Grand / Grand
Iron / 5 County / Wik L C / Iron / Iron
Juab / 6 County / Wik L C / JuabII / Juab
Kane / 5 County / Wik L C / Kane / Kane
Millard / 6 County / Wik L C / Millard / Millard
Morgan / Wasatch Frnt / Wik L C / Morgan / Morgan
Piute / 6 County / Wik L C / Piute / Piute
Rich / Bear River / Wik L C / Rich / Rich
SaltLake / Wasatch Frnt / Wik L C / Salt Lake / Salt Lake
San Juan / Southeast / Wik L C / San Juan / San Juan
Sanpete / 6 County / Wik L C / Sanpete / Sanpete
Sevier / 6 County / Wik L C / Sevier / Sevier
Summit / MountainLnd / Wik L C / Summit / Summit
Tooele / Wasatch Frnt / Wik L C / Tooele / Tooele
Uintah / UintahBasin / Wik L C / Uintah / Uintah
Utah / MountainLnd / Wik L C / Utah / Utah
Wasatch / MountainLnd / Wik L C / Wasatch / Wasatch
Washington / 5 County / Wik L C / Washington / Washington
Wayne / 6 County / Wik L C / Wayne / Wayne
Weber / Wasatch Frnt / Wik L C / Weber / Weber

LM03-CC08 – Connectedness to counties – human and physical geography

ORIGINS OF COUNTY NAMES reflect Utah history, Utah peoples, Utah environments

LINK to Association of Counties listing

TRAPPERS: Beaver, Cache (Duchesne) (Weber)

FRIENDS OF LDS PIONEERS: Kane

LDS personages: Davis, Morgan Rich

INDIAN / Native American: Juab, Piute, Sanpete, (Tooele), Uintah, Utah, Wasatch

PRESIDENTS: Garfield, Millard, Washington

GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES: SaltLake, San Juan, Sevier, Summit, (Tooele), Weber, Grand

RESOURCES: Carbon, Iron

ECOLOGY: Box Elder, (Tooele), Beaver

GOVERNOR: Emery

SURVEYOR: Daggett

NOT SURE: Wayne, Tooele, Duchesne

4) Make connections even ones that are far fetched, so long as they are memorable.

HINTS for remembering places

Visual -LINK SLTribune

With songs ... to the tune of Reuben, Reuben:

Beaver, Carbon, Davis, Morgan, Daggett, Millard, and Duchesne

Iron, Uintah, Rich, and Summit, Garfield, Cache, Piute, and Kane

Wasatch, Washington, and Weber, Sanpete, San Juan, SaltLake, and Wayne

Juab, Box Elder, Grand, Tooele, Sevier, and Emery, Utah names.

County map of Utah - LINK

LM03-CC09 – So What?

Know where you are; know who you are; know who they are… LINK

A sense of direction can be taught.

A sense of place can be nurtured.

Skills include: landmark recognition; landscape analysis, interpreting maps, story telling, observing social structure, recognizing social determinants, appreciating and understanding diversity. A sense of place can be reinforced by literature, music, art, history, travel... names.

LM03-CC10 – Coachings on your HW05 – Atlas -- Chapter 2 – LANDMARKS note…. GO TO WebCT/Blackboard/Vista for the assignment… this is just coaching on how to be successful.

HW05 – Chapter 2 - Landmarks and a sense of place.

Template for pages of your atlas (if you have not completed HW03 and HW04, do so before commencing HW05)

Create at least four pages for your atlas for a Utah school project.

(1) Ch02p01-Delicate Arch

a Utah landmark

(2) Ch02p02-YourChoice

Choose a cultural landmark of Utah

(3) Ch02p03-YourSchool

Using Google Earth, create an image that shows “your school” (see instructions for negotiating Google Earth, below)

(4) Ch02p04-FeaturesName

Identify at least one physical landmark for the county your school is in.

To find a landmark, get to know your county better. Go to the LINKs to the county, above.

Also, the bicentennial history-of-county series is on-line. Go to SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES on the course-content web site LINK

Make whatever additional pages you’d like. Ask your Cohort Group for help on logistics… or contact me during virtual or face to face office hours… or via WebCT email. It’s Okay to collaborate on sources. It’s great to critique your cohort’s work via the WebCT/Blackboard/Vista discussion… but pages are your own work. Don’t let anyone steal your education… write the text and make the pages yourself.

LM03-CC11 – Google Earth – Joy to geographers … as well as a geographer’s tool.

Step by step set up of Google Earth.

How to fly to the UofU, Orson Spencer Hall

Fly to Moab, Grand County, UT.

Fly to AntelopeIsland, Davis County, UT