16904

SoSe 21: Understanding and Writing (about) Places: Theoretical and explorative approaches

Susanne Scharnowski

Comments

Subject: Our relationship to places has changed dramatically since the onset of the Corona pandemic. Before the pandemic, moving easily from one place to another and ‘inhabiting’ multiple places were desirable practices for most people, even though hypermobility and over-tourism were increasingly also seen as problematic. Now that our mobility is restricted, travelling has become difficult, and tourism has all but disappeared, the places in which we find ourselves have been rendered more important as we are much more place-bound. At the same time, place has become less relevant as we spend much more time in virtual space, where the whole world seems to be within reach, even though our bodies are not moving around in this world. As yet it is impossible to say what effects the pandemic and the measures implemented against the spread of the virus will have on our relationship with place(s) and on our sense of place in the long term. Even before, there was a lot of discussion around the changing character of ‘place’ in globalisation; some researchers saw the disappearance of place and the rise of ‘placelessness’ (Edward Relph) or ‘non-places’ (Marc Augé). Nevertheless, the present turning point is an opportune moment to reflect upon the meaning of place. What makes a place special for us? Is it still important to have a sense of place, to read a place or to develop place attachment? Will our experiences in virtual space make us long for physical experiences in ‘real’ places? Program: We will study academic texts from different disciplines that discuss notions of place, sense of place, placelessness and non-place, and relate them to personal experiences and examples. This will be assisted by small tasks that are meant support and train perception of our physical environment as well as by writing exercises which should serve as a mode of place exploration. Is this course right for you? The course is open to students from all fields. Students should be prepared to study and discuss academic texts, to explore their surroundings and to practice writing about places. Workload and Assessment: To obtain 5 ECTS credits, you will have to • attend the course regularly • have studied the course materials (an average of 15 pages of texts in English per week); • submit written work in the course of as well as at the end of the semester. close