Perceptions, Places, Pumpkins, Prairies

This morning I've been reading the materials on place. This is a topic I'm very interested in. (Last January my interim course explored the notion of sacred place in Greece and Turkey.) And I'm thinking about how to write the assignment about St. Olaf as a place. These materials sparked lots of ideas: general ones and others specific to our class.

In Stilgoe's "Jack-O-Lanterns to Surveyors," the discussion of termini brought to memory the markers in the Athens agora that declare its edges and reminded me of the new gate at the bottom of the hill. It declares St. Olaf's location while prohibiting entry unless there is an emergency. Shall we have a pumpkin carving this October to recall this old way of marking boundaries?

From the same source: "The evolution of mathematical surveying paralleled, and perhaps encouraged, the changing landscape perception of the common folk." p. 54 Yes, I agreed, recalling the book, Measuring America, and the impact of a grid pattern on former prairie lands when those were divided into sections and farms as American examples. Also--a radio story I heard that reported that women are more attentive to landmarks to orient themselves in space and men to more abstract factors. (Can that be true?)

In regard to our class, and at the beginning of our work together, I also noted that this may also be true about learning. The evolution and adoption of new technologies encourages and parallels changing perceptions of community, of freedom, of learning. This is worth paying attention to. A small example: either copying out a quotation in longhand or typing it into this blog forces me to read every word and to encounter the sentences with my hands in ways that running a highlighter over the text does not. Or: what of the difference between reading a book, a photocopy, or on-line? Does the tactile experience matter? (And I admit to missing the possibility of looking at the card to see who else held a book and read it. See Billy Collins' Marginalia.) Another: 'conversing' digitally removes much of the sensory experience of doing so in a room together. I don't hear the sound of voices. There is no overlap of one interrupting another. Little possibility of laughter. No colors from clothing. Does the electronic mode of communication dis-embody knowledge? Does it diminish our community? So . . . . the BIG question . . . . how does the technology of conversation and study influence the character of our learning and community?

And, of course, it is always salutary to be reminded of Jonathan Z. Smith's aphorism: "The map is not the territory." This despite how valuable it is to have a map!