GPS 0210 - Space, Place, and Culture

Credits: 3

Cultures are complex systems of meaning that find expression in language, religion, social and political institutions. Culture is represented in art, literature, music and film, and takes material form as food, buildings, cities, towns and landscapes. Expressions of culture coalesce in places, which are environments shaped by humans and nature over time. Places reflect the aspirations and achievements of cultures, but they also reflect power struggles between opposing forces of domination and resistance. In this course students study geographic patterns of culture to better understand the spatial dimensions of cultural difference, economic inequality, political conflict, and social struggle. Efforts to achieve social justice are studied in comparative perspective and with attention to the ways these struggles become inscribed upon landscapes and the built environment.

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