Syllabus
Weekly ScheduleThe schedule is subject to change with fair notice. The notice will be made available on ECES website – course info - at least one week before, if possible.
Week1. Introduction: European and Czech traditions of landscapeNetherlands landscape painting and its influence on the cultural construction of the contemporary uses of the term “landscape”. Theory of Sublime in defense of landscape interest. Great landscape traditions, including the founding definition of landscape by Alexander von Humboldt 1800 and the ideas of Peter Brueghel (the elder) and Caspar David Friedrich. Next student oral presentation (means students presentation for the next lesson - a part of Grading System): Beyond the painting – landscape photographs and land-art.
Week 2. Landscape as human experience and object of sciencePrehistoric experiences with landscapes, pre–scientific terms in ecology and landscape. Competing definitions of landscape in science, art, ecology, and sociology. Albert Einstein, Edmund Husserl, Jan Patočka. Next student oral presentation: Cultural symbols in landscapes – part of our living home-place.Recommended readings: Edmund Husserl: The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Philosophy, English translation for example by D. Carr. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970.
Week 3. Concept of cultural landscapeHebrew roots of the term landscape, China (Japanese) roots of eight landscape sceneries – Hakkei (eight Views), Cultural landscape by Carl Ortwin Sauer. Next student oral presentation: New and old use of the term “landscape”.Recommended readings: Sauer, C. The Morphology of Landscape, University of California Publications in Geography, 22 (1925): 19-53
Week 4. Limits of bio-ecology in understanding Czech and European landscapesGrounded Humboldt’s definition of landscape, Ecology, basic terms, from ecology to environmentalism and ecological crisis. Landscape dynamics. Example: Ecological integrity study or Zev Naveh contemporary (2010) study. Next student oral presentation: Ecology in human sciences – methodology or metaphor?Recommended readings: Richard T.T. Forman and M. Godron: Landscape Ecology (introduction). New York: John Wiley, 1986. Dansereau, P. M. Inscape and Landscape: The Human Perception of Environment. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1975.
Week 5. Limits of sociology in understanding landscapeCase of environmental sociology, HEP and NEP, Social constructionism. Example: Concept of landscape field or Aboriginal song/lines paintings. Next student oral presentation: Ecological interdisciplinary problems - interdisciplinary solution in science and praxes?Required readings: Berger, P. L. and T. Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge, Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1966. (Available in your Readings).
Week 6. Landscape ecology and IALEMidterm test: basic terms of ecology and landscape ecology – will be done in classroomShort history of landscape ecology, changes in aims, methods and focus. An attempt for interdisciplinarity. Critical view on the monoculture of the science. (Antrop, Wiens, Naveh, Forman, Gordon and others) Example: Quantitative analyses of the Journal Landscape Ecology and Landscape and Urban Planning. Next student oral presentation: Sustainability: catchword or great compromise between nature and man? Recommended readings: Klinj, J, Vos, W., eds., From Landscape Ecology to Landscape Science, Kluwer Academic Publisher, 2000. or Issues and Perspectives in Landscape Ecology. Cambridge Studies in Landscape Ecology. Edited by John A. Wiens Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Week 7. Towards landscape sustainability.Midterm test: results.Critical view on Sustainable Development: Study Sustainability or SOStainability? Historical, environmental, economical, and social roots of the term sustainability. Example: Praxes: Bark beetle in Sumava Mts. Next student oral presentation: What does and what does not ecology mean?Recommended readings: Lovelock, J. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, 3rd ed.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979. Meadows D.H., Meadows D.L., Randers J., Behrens W.W.: The Limits to Growth, London: PAN Books Ltd., 1972.
Week 8. European landscape typologies I.Tertiary typology: Pan-European landscapes typology – introduction. and examples of the Czech Republic Next student oral presentation: How dynamic is landscape?Required readings: Johan Meeus. Pan-European landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning, 31 (1995): 57–79. (Available in Readings)
Week 9. European landscape typologies II.Pan-European landscapes typology – finalization and examples of land-types in Czech Republic. How to count landscape stability? Method of coefficient of landscape stability. General overview and explanation. Next student oral presentation. Type of landscape in which I am living. Required readings see lesson 8. Choice of final paper topics.Recommended readings: Klinj, J, Vos, W., eds., From Landscape Ecology to Landscape Science, Kluwer Academic Publisher, 2000.
Week 10. Changes in European and Czech landscapesMajor factors of contemporary landscape changes. Global changes. Attempts to gauge economic appreciation and value of landscapes. Examples of CVM, VTP methods. Next student oral presentation. Ancient symbols of power of nature in environmental movement. An attempt for critical view.Recommended readings: Bauman, Z. Liquid times: living in an age of uncertainity. Modus vivendi. Inferno a utopia del modno liquido. Modus vivendi, 2007. Gius. Laterza and Figli.
Week 11. Phenomenon of Green ManLecture (11) and short trip (12) in downtown Prague to recognize symbol of Green man. Final test regards among others Landscape typologies see lesson 8-9. (Lesson 11) - will be done in classroom.Next student oral presentation: Your own choice of topics related to courses 1 – 12.
The end of the week 11: 5-7 May, 2017 Closing Landscape Studies Field Trip – see details belowWhole file:http://picasaweb.google.com/ecesprague ECES 2010-2014 trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/ecesprague/may2010trip
Week 12. Phenomenon of Green Man in PragueLecture (12) Start in classroom. Short walk trip (12) in downtown Prague to recognize symbol of Green man.Next student oral presentation: Your own choice of topics related to courses 1 – 12. Recommended readings: Schama, S. Landscape and Memory. 1st ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1966.
Week 13. Papers due, final consultationFinal test results. Final paper thesis introduction and discussion.Closing landscape studies field trip (26 hours): May 5th - afternoon departure from Prague, May 7th evening arrival to Prague. Field landscape studies in Czech Paradise, East Bohemia. Price is about 1500 CZK, see Prerequisites.Topics is: Landscape as Culture and natural heritage. From the “gate to the hell” to Czech paradise. Landscape typology in praxes. Landscapes in changes. Two days trip with landscape experiences in Czech Paradise. Dualism of the European landscape perspective. Views at Czech paradise Landscape protected area by management. Sponsors of landscape – document movie. Your own landscapeperception and landscape experiences: group experiences presentation Sources: Water, Land, Space, History and Endangered landscape Processes: tourism, globalization, conservation Recommended reading: Schama, S. Landscape and Memory. 1st ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1966.
Additional informationAdditional information - Preliminary Program:May 5thProgram - Outline Czech Paradise Final Trip- Landscape Sociology Program changes depend on the weather condition and our physical ability… Date: May 3. – 5. 2013. Departure from Prague: Meeting at 3:30 p.m. main building Palachovo namesti, the main entrance hall. Exact tiem of meeting will be done. Departure to Černý Most Metro station - from Černý Most by bus to venue. Arrival to Nebákov cottage venue from Prague, cca 6-7 p.m. including stop for your food shopping in local town Turnov. Your payment and accommodation. Friday Evening Session about 8 – 9 p.m. Instructions and building 3 groups 1. Natural patters and resources 2. Historical patterns and heritage 3. Social patterns and processes Free evening........
May 6thSaturday Morning Session 7:30 Conference hall: Dr. Miloslav Lapka: Instruction to the game “Landscape Changes”; tables for two days game, Dr. Jan Vávra – dynamic of landscape changes in Czech Republic 8:30 a.m. breakfast. Walking trip from Nebákov cottage to Trosky A half day walking Trip to Troske – Trosky: about 10km trip to visit Trosky and other landscape structures for their evaluation. Entry fee to Trosky: 50 CZK adults, 35 CZK students (price in 2010). Two restaurant stops, lunch for our group is available. Back trip will passing the romantic valley, etc... Enjoy the sceneries. For people near to dead after approaching Trosky top hill..... bus first aid help is organized if necessary. Afternoon Session: time tbd according our comeback ..cca 5 or 7 p.m. Conference Hall in our venue Nebakov. Dr. Jan Vávra – dynamic of landscape changes in Czech Republic “Structures and threatens” group presentation. Moderated by Jan Vávra and Miloslav Lapka. May be an unexpected visit or activity… Free evening........
May 7thSunday morning session: 8:30 a.m. breakfast. Miloslav Lapka and Jan Vavra: Instruction to the land-art game. Trip organization: about 9-10 a.m. After instruction we are taking our bus from our venue to Sedmihorky. Walking trip to Valdstejn castle, entry fee for
Annotation
The connections between society and the landscape go beyond descriptive sociological perspectives of biophysical landscapes. Holistically, landscape sociology incorporates philosophical, cultural, anthropological and ecological interactions between man and nature, and between social and ecological systems. European, and particularly Czech, landscapes represent ecological as well as sociocultural heritages. Human experiences with landscapes, social and cultural constructions and transformations of landscapes, and the ways in which we bring meaning to landscapes are the main topics of this course.
A primary aim of landscape sociology is to show landscape both as a geo-ecological phenomenon and as a sociocultural construction. The development of basic knowledge of ecological and cultural constructions of the Czech and European landscapes thus requires us to discuss a range of topics, including contemporary environmental and ecological issues, globalization and the landscape, and orientations in pan-European landscape typology based on the integration of landscape formation actors as a regionally differentiated geography, morphology and scenery on the one hand and regional culture, habits and history on the other.
Landscape Sociology usually focuses on the interaction of social groups (represented largely by rural communities and urban environmentalists) and the complex of the environment constructed as the
“landscape” on the macro-level. In this course, an overall objective and context for our lectures is the movement away from productivity as the sole or dominant mode of conceiving the value of rural landscapes, and the movement towards ideas about how to achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability