Cultural Encounters with the Environment: Enduring and Evolving Geographic Themes

(Paperback)

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In this volume, a distinguished group of contributors offer a fresh and original view of contemporary geography. The authors explore the role of four traditional themes in the "new cultural geography": the interplay between the evolution of particular biophysical niches and the activities of the culture groups that inhabit them; the diffusion of cultural traits; the establishment and definition of culture areas; and the distinctive mix of geographical characteristics that gives places their special character in relation to one another. By examining how cultural space is constructed; how environment is remade, understood, and imaged as a consequence; and how people lay claim to place, this volume establishes a compelling case for the importance of these enduring concepts to present and future trajectories in cultural geography.

Reviews

A large audience will find the book useful as well as absorbing and provocative. This is an impressive document: scholarly, informative, and literate. -- Everett G. Smith, Jr., University of Oregon
The Murphy and Johnson volume stands out as being singularly important, and though it will be read by cultural geographers, it should be read by practitioners from other sub-disciplines as well, particularly those who have been less than impressed, and terribly enamored, of cultural geography in the past. There is much to be learned from this volume, in no small way because it involves contributions by the best cultural geographers. * Economic Geography *
The collection does not contain a flat article. The papers in this collection make a genuine effort to bring their words to a level of understanding that will cause future encounters with the environment to gain some new meaning if good cultural geography is practiced and applied in response to such encounters. * Annals of the Association of American Geographers *
It should go without saying that all cultural geographers should read this book. Portions will be of interest to other geographers as well as scholars in other fields. Both the editors and the publisher should be commended. * Progress In Human Geography *
The individual papers chosen by the editors are both meritorious and variously interesting. * Historical Geography *
The quality of the essays is high, and they make important contributions to scholarship in cultural geography. -- Mona Domosh, Florida Atlantic University

Author Bio

Alexander B. Murphy is professor of geography and holds the Rippey Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Oregon. Douglas L. Johnson is professor of geography at Clark University.