Blog #1 Place

Essential questions 2 and 3

2) How is Place defined?

“Place” has many different meanings and is also used in many different contexts. In “Place, a Short Introduction” place is defined in most basic terms, as space or location that has been made meaningful to a person. Place is also “not just a thing in the world, but a way of understanding the world.” (pg. 11)

What are the conclusions that can be drawn as “undifferentiated space becomes place”?

Implications that can be drawn is that space becomes a place, and it would be hard to define either without using both terms together. Also, space is made into a place when people put their own “touches” and make it their own and a somewhere they enjoy. For example, a few of the community gardens built and planted by the Puerto Rican community replicate buildings that resemble their home. They also drape flags and symbols that is a direct reflection of their country or what they love. Tuan states “What begins as undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value” (8)

How is landscape and place shaped by fiction and visual arts?
Place is something that you are “in” while landscape is more visual and often something you look at from a distance.

What does it mean to “inhabit” a place? Inhabit means to live or dwell in a place, but more related to the book; t means to make space into a place, or make something into your own.

3) What does a study of place in America reveal? About what or whom?

A study of place reveals understanding about the world and also people and where they’ve come from. “But place is also a way of seeing…We see attachments and connections between people and place. We see worlds of meaning and experience.” (11)