Date of Completion
8-22-2011
Embargo Period
8-22-2011
Advisors
Carol Atkinson-Palombo; Andrew Ballantine
Field of Study
Geography
Degree
Master of Arts
Open Access
Campus Access
Abstract
This study uses ethnographic methods to investigate how people understand and relate to places in order to better understand the symbolic, meanings-based aspects of human-environment interaction. Through semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews, the research analyzes how stakeholders perceive and narrate the meanings and experiences related to the Midcoast Maine cultural landscape, and contributes to the relatively new scholarship on ‘cultured naturalness.’ This research aims to construct a fine-grained ethnographic rendering by means of a small sample size (n=13) and open-ended interviews. Residents' narratives are investigated to reveal the diversity and themes of place-meanings associated with the human and natural landscape. On a practical level, this research may assist local planners and land managers resolve or prevent land-use conflicts.
Recommended Citation
Stevens, Jebediah, "Exploring Symbolic Aspects Of Human-Environment Interaction In A Socially Constructed Coastscape: Sense Of Place In Coastal Maine" (2011). Master's Theses. 140.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/140
Major Advisor
Nathaniel Trumbull