The final domain, public history and the geography of storytelling, looks at both methodological questions in historical geography research and modes of presenting that research. Public historians are a diverse community of practitioners fundamentally interested in the ways historical knowledge is created and presented to broad and multifaceted publics in various locations such as archives and museums. Geographers of storytelling are concerned with the spatial dimensions of stories, how they’re told and how landscapes become inscribed with meaning and discourses. This domain finds natural linkages between these sub-fields, particularly in the recent work of a group of British geographers under the auspices of ‘anticipatory history’ (see: DeSilvey 2012 and DeSilvey, Naylor and Sackett 2011). As such it provides the basis for exploring the contingent nature of the documents, landscapes and material cultures that form the core of the proposed research as well as addressing concerns regarding the narrative form of this thesis project.
This post has two main parts:
(1) The domain itself; and,
(2) A syllabus created as a thought experience while studying the list.
The List
Alvey, Mark. 2007. “The
Cinema as Taxidermy: Carl Akeley and the Preservative Obsession.” Framework:
The Journal of Cinema and Media 48 (1): 23–45.
Baker, Alan. 2003. Geography and History: Bridging the Divide.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bennett, Tony. 1995. The
Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics. New York: Routledge.
Butler, Toby, and Graeme
Miller. 2005. “Linked: A Landmark in Sound, a Public Walk of Art.” Cultural
Geographies 12 (1): 77–88.
Cameron, Emilie. 2012.
“New Geographies of Story and Storytelling.” Progress in Human Geography
36 (5): 573–92.
Cameron, Laura. 2001.
“Oral History in the Freud Archives: Incidents, Ethics, and Relations.” Historical
Geography 29: 38–44.
Carr, Graham. 2005.
“Rules of Engagement: Public History and the Drama of Legitimation.” Canadian
Historical Review 86 (2): 317–54.
Cook, Terry and Joan M.
Schwartz. 2002. “Archives, Records, and Power: From (Postmodern) Theory to
(Archival) Performance.” Archival Science 2 (3-4): 171–85.
Cook, Terry. 2013.
“Evidence, Memory, Identity, and Community: Four Shifting Archival Paradigms.” Archival
Science 13 (2-3): 95–120.
Daniels, Stephen, and
Catherine Nash. 2004. “Lifepaths: Geography and Biography.” Journal of
Historical Geography 30 (3): 449–58.
De Leeuw, Sarah. 2012.
“Alice through the Looking Glass: Emotion, Personal Connection, and Reading
Colonial Archives along the Grain” 38 (3): 273–81.
Dening, Greg. 1996. Performances.
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
DeSilvey, Caitlin. 2007.
“Salvage Memory: Constellating Material Histories on a Hardscrabble Homestead.”
Cultural Geographies 14 (3): 401–24.
———. 2012. “Making Sense
of Transience: An Anticipatory History.” Cultural Geographies 19 (1):
31–54.
DeSilvey, Caitlin, Simon
Naylor, and Colin Sackett, eds. 2011. Anticipatory History. Axminister,
U.K.: Uniformbooks.
Drenthen, Martin. 2011.
“Reading Ourselves through the Land: Landscape Hermeneutics and Ethics of
Place.” In Placing Nature on the Borders of Religion, Philosophy, and Ethics,
edited by F Clingerman and M Dixon, 123–38. Farnham: Ashgate.
Elwood, Sarah A., and
Deborah G. Martin. 2000. “‘Placing’ Interviews: Location and Scales of Power in
Qualitative Research.” Professional Geographer 52 (4): 649–57.
Evans, James, and Phil
Jones. 2011. “The Walking Interview: Methodology, Mobility and Place.” Applied
Geography 31 (2): 849–58.
Fuller, Duncan. 2008.
“Public Geographies: Taking Stock.” Progress in Human Geography 32 (6):
834–44.
Fuller, Duncan, and Kye
Askins. 2010. “Public Geographies II: Being Organic.” Progress in Human
Geography 34 (5): 654–67.
Gagen, Elizabeth, Hayden
Lorimer, and Alex Vasudevan, eds. 2007. Practising the Archive: Reflections
on Method and Practice in Historical Geography. London: Historical
Geography Research Group.
Greer, Kirsten A. 2013.
“Geopolitics and the Avian Imperial Archive: The Zoogeography of Region-Making
in the Nineteenth-Century British Mediterranean.” Annals of the Association
of American Geographers 103 (6): 1317–31.
Hall, Martin. 2006.
“Identity, Memory and Countermemory.” Journal of Material Culture 11
(1-2): 189–209.
Hanlon, James. 2001.
“Spaces of Interpretation: Archival Research and the Cultural Landscape.” Historical
Geography 29: 14–25.
Harris, Cole. 2012. “A
Life between Geography and History.” The Canadian Historical Review 93
(3): 436–62.
Harris, Verne. 2002. “The
Archival Sliver: Power, Memory, and Archives in South Africa.” Archival
Science 2 (1-2): 63–86.
Harvey, David, and Mark
Riley. 2005. “Country Stories: The Use of Oral Histories of the Countryside to
Challenge the Sciences of the Past and Future.” Interdisciplinary Science
Reviews 30 (1): 19–32.
Ingold, Tim. 1993. “The
Temporality of the Landscape.” World Archaeology 25 (2): 152–74.
Jackson, John B. 1994. A
Sense of Place, a Sense of Time. Yale University Press.
Jessup, Lynda. 2006.
“Landscapes of Sport, Landscapes of Exclusion: The ‘Sportsman’s Paradise’ in
Late-Nineteenth-Century Canadian Painting.” Journal of Canadian
Studies/Revue D’études Canadiennes 40 (1): 71–123.
Latour, Bruno. 2007. “A
Textbook Case Revisited: Knowledge as Mode of Existence.” In The Handbook of
Science and Technology Studies, edited by E Hackett, O Amsterdamska, M
Lynch, and J Wacjman, 3rd ed., 83–112. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Lovell, George W. 2013.
“The Archive That Never Was: State Terror and Historical Memory in Guatemala.” Geographical
Review 103 (2): 199–209.
McGeachan, Cheryl, Isla
Forsyth, and William Hasty. 2012. “Certain Subjects? Working with Biography and
Life-Writing in Historical Geography.” Historical Geography 40: 169–85.
Naylor, Simon. 2005.
“Historical geography: knowledge, in place and on the move.” Progress in Human Geography 29 (5): 626-634.
———. 2006. “Historical
geography: natures, landscapes, environments.” Progress in Human Geography
30 (6): 792-802.
———. 2008. “Historical
Geography: Geographies and Historiographies.” Progress in Human Geography
32 (2): 265–74.
Neatby, Nicole, and Peter
Hodgins, eds. 2012. Settling and Unsettling Memories: Essays in Canadian
Public History. Toronto ; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press.
Opp, James, and John C.
Walsh, eds. 2010. Placing Memory and Remembering Place in Canada.
Vancouver: UBC Press.
Osborne, Brian S. 2001.
“Landscapes, Memory, Monuments, and Commemoration: Putting Identity in Its
Place.” Canadian Ethnic Studies 33 (3): 39–77.
Perks, Robert, and
Alistair Thomson. 2006. The Oral History Reader. London and New York:
Routledge.
Poulter, Gillian. 2004.
“Montreal and its Environs: Imagining a National Landscape, c.1867-1885.” Journal of Canadian Studies 28 (3):
69-100.
Prown, Jules David. 1982.
“Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method.” Winterthur
Portfolio 17 (1): 1–19.
Said, Edward. 1990.
“Narrative, Geography, and Interpretation.” New Left Review 180: 81–97.
Schein, Richard H. 2001.
“Re-Placing the Past?” Historical Geography 29: 7–13.
Schwartz, Joan M., and
James R. Ryan, eds. 2003. Picturing Place: Photography and the Geographical
Imagination. London: I.B. Tauris.
Schwartz, Joan M. 2006.
“‘Having New Eyes’: Spaces of Archives, Landscapes of Power.” Archivaria 61: 1-25.
Terrall, Mary. 2006.
“Biography as Cultural History of Science.” Isis 97 (2): 306–13.
Ward, Ashley R. 2012.
“Reclaiming Place through Remembrance: Using Oral Histories in Geographic
Research.” Historical Geography 40: 133–45.
Winter, Tim. 2013.
“Clarifying the Critical in Critical Heritage Studies.” International
Journal of Heritage Studies 19 (6): 532–45.
Zomberg, Vera. 1996.
“Museums as Contested Sites of Remembrance: The Enola Gay Affair.” In Theorizing
Museums: Representing Identity and Diversity in a Changing World, edited by
Sharon MacDonald and Gordon Fyfe, 69–82. London: Blackwell Publishers.
The Syllabus
Geographies of Storytelling
GPHY 3XX
Peter Anderson, Mac-Corry D320
Office Hours: Tuesdays 3-4pm or by appointment
Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursday 1-2:30pm
Outline
This course looks at methodological questions in historical
geography research and modes of presenting that research. Geographers of
storytelling are concerned with the spatial dimensions of stories, where
they’re told and how landscapes become inscribed with meaning and discourses. It
provides the basis for exploring the contingent nature of the documents,
landscapes and material cultures that form the core of the historical geography
research and challenges students to look at the world around them with fresh
eyes.
Assessments and Late Policy
Progress in this course consists of six assessments. Unless
otherwise noted, assessments are due in class at the beginning of Thursday’s
lectures except the book review:
1.
Presentation Notes (throughout) – 5%
2.
Term Paper Proposal (Week 4) – 10%
3.
Book Review (Week 7) – 15%
4.
Walking Tour Review (Week 10) – 10%
5.
Term Paper (Week 11) – 30%
6.
Essay-style Exam (Exam period TBD) – 30%
Late assignments are subject to the department’s standard
penalty. Extensions will only be made with proper documentation.
1. Presentation Notes
(5%)
Every student will be assigned one-to-two readings to
prepare a short (2-3 minute) presentation and research notes for. Students must
also provide one power point slide. As more than one student will be assigned
to each day, not everyone will have a chance to present. Grades are based on
the student’s notes and slide content.
Slides must be submitted by 5pm on the Sunday before the
student’s assigned day and presentation notes are due at the end of the lecture
on the student’s assigned day.
2. Term Paper Proposal
– Week 4 (10%)
Students are to choose a topic based on course themes and
write a term paper proposal. The proposal will be no more than 3 pages in
length, inclusive of its preliminary bibliography. The first page will describe
the chosen topic and research questions. The remaining pages will present an
annotated bibliography containing at least 5 scholarly journal articles or book
chapters (no more than 2 from course readings). Annotations should demonstrate
the relation of the source to the topic and research question. Students are
encouraged to meet with the instructor or teaching assistant before submitting
their proposal.
3. Book Review – Tuesday of Week 7 (15%)
Students will write a 4-5 page critical book review of either
Kai-cheung Dung’s Atlas: The Archaeology
of an Imaginary City translated by Dung, Anders Hansson and Bonnie
McDougall or China Meiville’s The
City & The City (both available at the University bookstore). The book
review will address key course concepts and interrogate the ways cities become
enchanted through the telling of stories.
4. Walking Tour
Review – Week 9 (10%)
Students will write a 2-3 page review of the situated
walking tour of Kingston undertaken in week 8. Students are encouraged to focus
on particular stories or sites of memory and to return to those places after
the tour. Grades will be based on level of engagement with the tour and course
concepts as well as the clarity of writing.
5. Term Paper – Week
11 (30%)
Building on the research topic and question approved in the
term paper proposal, students will prepare a 12-15 page research paper. Grades
will be based on the depth of research, strength of argument and the student’s
ability as a writer.
6. Essay-style Exam –
TBD (30%)
Students will sit a 3 hour essay-style exam, answering two short
answer questions (of 5—each worth 5%) and two long answer question (of 5—each
worth 10%) based on course themes and readings.
Topics and Readings
Note: There is no textbook for this course. All readings are
available through the library’s website or the course’s Moodle page. Bennett’s The Birth of the Museum, Dung’s Atlas and Meiville’s The City & The City are available
for purchase at the bookstore.
Week 1: Introduction and
Key Concepts
·
Tuesday – Introduction
o
No readings.
·
Thursday – Definitions and Concepts
o
Cameron, Emilie. 2012. “New Geographies of Story and Storytelling.” Progress
in Human Geography 36 (5): 573–92.
o
Opp, James, and John C. Walsh, eds. 2010. Placing Memory and
Remembering Place in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press. Introduction only.
Week 2: Public
geographies, historical geographies
·
Tuesday – Public Geographies.
o
Fuller, Duncan. 2008. “Public Geographies: Taking Stock.” Progress in
Human Geography 32 (6): 834–44.
o
Fuller, Duncan, and Kye Askins. 2010. “Public Geographies II: Being Organic.”
Progress in Human Geography 34 (5): 654–67.
·
Thursday – Historical Geographies
o
Naylor, Simon. 2005. “Historical geography: knowledge, in place and on
the move.” Progress in Human
Geography 29 (5): 626-634.
o
Naylor, Simon. 2006. “Historical geography: natures, landscapes,
environments.” Progress in Human Geography 30 (6): 792-802.
o
Naylor, Simon. 2008. “Historical
Geography: Geographies and Historiographies.” Progress in Human Geography
32 (2): 265–74.
Week 3: Telling Stories,
Hearing Stories
·
Tuesday – Oral Histories, Oral Geographies
o
Cameron, Laura. 2001. “Oral History in the Freud Archives: Incidents,
Ethics, and Relations.” Historical Geography 29: 38–44.
o
Ward, Ashley R. 2012. “Reclaiming Place through Remembrance: Using Oral
Histories in Geographic Research.” Historical Geography 40: 133–45.
·
Thursday – Placing Stories
o
Elwood, Sarah A., and Deborah G. Martin. 2000. “‘Placing’ Interviews:
Location and Scales of Power in Qualitative Research.” Professional
Geographer 52 (4): 649–57.
o
Evans, James, and Phil Jones. 2011. “The Walking Interview: Methodology,
Mobility and Place.” Applied Geography 31 (2): 849–58.
o
Harvey, David, and Mark Riley. 2005. “Country Stories: The Use of Oral
Histories of the Countryside to Challenge the Sciences of the Past and Future.”
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 30 (1): 19–32.
Week 4: Uncovering
Cultural Landscapes
·
Tuesday – Storied Places
o
Osborne, Brian S. 2001. “Landscapes, Memory, Monuments, and
Commemoration: Putting Identity in Its Place.” Canadian Ethnic Studies
33 (3): 39–77.
o
Poulter, Gillian. 2004. “Montreal and its Environs: Imagining a National
Landscape, c.1867-1885.” Journal of
Canadian Studies 28 (3): 69-100.
·
Thursday – Vernacular Landscapes *Term
paper proposal due*
o
Jackson, John B. 1994. A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time. Yale
University Press. Chapters 1, 8, 9, and
11.
Week 5: Museums I – The
Birth of the Museum
·
Tuesday and Thursday – The Birth of the Museum
o
Bennett, Tony. 1995. The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory,
Politics. New York: Routledge.
Week 6: Archives I –
Archival Theory and Method
·
Tuesday – Approaching the Archives
o
Cook, Terry and Joan M. Schwartz. 2002. “Archives, Records, and Power:
From (Postmodern) Theory to (Archival) Performance.” Archival Science 2
(3-4): 171–85.
o
Cook, Terry. 2013. “Evidence, Memory, Identity, and Community: Four
Shifting Archival Paradigms.” Archival Science 13 (2-3): 95–120.
·
Thursday – Placing the Archives
o
Gagen, Elizabeth, Hayden Lorimer, and Alex Vasudevan, eds. 2007. Practising
the Archive: Reflections on Method and Practice in Historical Geography.
London: Historical Geography Research Group.
Week 7: Museums II –
Critical Heritage Studies
·
Tuesday – Conflicting histories *Book
review due*
o
Latour, Bruno. 2007. “A Textbook Case Revisited: Knowledge as Mode of
Existence.” In The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, edited by
E Hackett, O Amsterdamska, M Lynch, and J Wacjman, 3rd ed., 83–112. Cambridge,
Massachusetts: MIT Press.
o
Zomberg, Vera. 1996. “Museums as Contested Sites of Remembrance: The
Enola Gay Affair.” In Theorizing Museums: Representing Identity and
Diversity in a Changing World, edited by Sharon MacDonald and Gordon Fyfe,
69–82. London: Blackwell Publishers.
·
Thursday – Site visit to a local museum or the Queen’s Archives.
o
No readings.
Week 8: Archives II –
Troubled Pasts and Reading the Landscape
·
Tuesday – Troubled Pasts
o
Harris, Verne. 2002. “The Archival Sliver: Power, Memory, and Archives
in South Africa.” Archival Science 2 (1-2): 63–86.
o
Lovell, George W. 2013. “The Archive That Never Was: State Terror and
Historical Memory in Guatemala.” Geographical Review 103 (2): 199–209.
·
Thursday – Reading the Landscape
o
Drenthen, Martin. 2011. “Reading Ourselves through the Land: Landscape
Hermeneutics and Ethics of Place.” In Placing Nature on the Borders of
Religion, Philosophy, and Ethics, edited by F Clingerman and M Dixon, 123–38.
Farnham: Ashgate.
o
Ingold, Tim. 1993. “The Temporality of the Landscape.” World
Archaeology 25 (2): 152–74.
Week 9: Returning to
Storied Places
·
Tuesday – Geographies of Changing Places and Anticipatory Histories
o
DeSilvey, Caitlin. 2012. “Making Sense of Transience: An Anticipatory
History.” Cultural Geographies 19 (1): 31–54.
o
Schwartz in Opp, James, and John C. Walsh, eds. 2010. Placing Memory
and Remembering Place in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.
·
Thursday – Locating Kingston’s Past Walking Tour
o
No readings.
Week 10: Placing material
culture and the story of things
·
Tuesday – Material culture
o
Prown, Jules David. 1982. “Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material
Culture Theory and Method.” Winterthur Portfolio 17 (1): 1–19.
·
Thursday – The Stories of Things *Walking
tour reflection due*
o
Emilie Cameron in Baldwin, Andrew, Laura Cameron, and Audrey Kobayashi,
eds. 2011. Rethinking the Great White North: Race, Nature and the Historical
Geographies of Whiteness in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.
o
DeSilvey, Caitlin. 2007. “Salvage Memory: Constellating Material
Histories on a Hardscrabble Homestead.” Cultural Geographies 14 (3):
401–24.
Week 11: Placing Lives –
Biography and Geography
·
Tuesday – Telling Life Geographies
o
Daniels, Stephen, and Catherine Nash. 2004. “Lifepaths: Geography and
Biography.” Journal of Historical Geography 30 (3): 449–58.
o
McGeachan, Cheryl, Isla Forsyth, and William Hasty. 2012. “Certain
Subjects? Working with Biography and Life-Writing in Historical Geography.” Historical
Geography 40: 169–85.
·
Thursday – Using Life Geographies
o
Harris, Cole. 2012. “A Life between Geography and History.” The
Canadian Historical Review 93 (3): 436–62.
o
Terrall, Mary. 2006. “Biography as Cultural History of Science.” Isis
97 (2): 306–13.
Week 12: Conclusions
·
Tuesday and Thursday – Wrap up and Exam prep.
o
No readings.
