Louisiana: A Geographic Interpretation

1. Louisiana: A Geographic Interpretation Martha L. Henderson, Ph.D. May 1, 2006

2. Louisiana – An Outsider’s Perspective • Where is Louisiana on the American landscape? • Geography at LSU • Learning and living in a foreign place

3. American Landscapes • Landscapes: Legacies of Past Ideas and Ideals Records of Culture Representative Symbolic Inclusive of physical environment Social construction

4. Fields of Landscape Study • Landscapes are bounded areas • Multi-layered and temporally sensitive • Located within a ‘grid’ of identifiers • Comparable • Varying value • A set of relationships and processes • Multi-cultural • Interdisciplinary

5. Interdisciplinary Representation • American Studies • Landscape Architecture • History • Anthropology • Geography

6. Geography • Not the subject you learned in 6th grad • The study of the surface of Earth, both physical and cultural processess • A social science • The study of spatial relationships and place • Place: cultural landscapes cultural or political ecology cultural geography

7. Geographical Studies of Landscape • Culture or political processes • Cultural or political indicators • Significant landscapes or places • Formal or folk • Where is it? Why is it? How did it become this? Who are the major agents? What is the structure

8. Department of Geography and AnthropologySchool of Geoscience Louisiana State University • Physical Geography • Coastal Geomorphology • Climatology • Biogeography • Fluvial Geography GIS

9. Berkeley School of Geography“muddy boots geographers” • Cultural Geography - Dr. Fred Kniffen, LSU The study of regional variation of material culture indicators: architecture, religion, language, agriculture, food, music, ect. Tracing origins, transformations, integration, adaptation, diffusion Asking major questions about human creativity, evolution, local vs global, sustainability, and resource management Ethnographic Methods/ Field Work/American South/ Central American regions and landscapes (non-quantitative)

10. Louisiana Landscapes at LSU • Studied in conjunction with anthropologists including archaeologists • Mapping diffusion of form and function • Multi-cultural and historically rich region

11. Louisiana: Where is it? • Not part of the ‘western migration’ story • On the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean • Mouth of the Mississippi River • More in common with remote areas of North American than immediate surrounding area

12. Culturally Diverse • Significantly diverse cultures in a small area • Native • African • European • Spanish • French • British A landscape created by external forces

13. Multi-culturalism and Landscape • Representative cultural indicators/group • Acculturation processes • Cultural transformation • Ecological processes and disaster

14. Material Culture as Indicators • House types • Food • Religious practices • Language

15. Coping with Natural DisastersOver Time • Extreme Events • Major Events • Minor Events Science? Technology? Metaphysical beliefs?

16. A Few Historical Events • Interactions with native groups • Classes of settlers: • Landowners • Labor pools – African/European immigrants • Cajuns

17. EvangelineSt. Martinsville

18. 20th Century Population Changes Discovery of oil Transition from ag economy to timber/lumber production (ties to PNW) Creation of petroleum industry World War II impact on Cajun culture Katrina: out-migration from New Orleans and southern parishes nationalization with military of petroleum production region