Also read Chapter 5 of this book Cultural Geography Environments, Landscapes, Identities, Inequalities by William Norton; Margaret Walton-Roberts

1. Write around 300 words.

Why do we need cultural landscapes? Who are we? Why do we need cultural landscapes today in the globalized (post)pandemic world? 

1. Write an essay on one of the following topics: 

1. Reading/writing a cultural landscape: Choose any cultural landscape, read it, write about your findings or tell your readers about this space in any medium. You may consider the following questions: What do store names, buildings, styles say about the users of that space? What history can you see and read in this landscape? What are the myths kept alive by the landscape? What does this place mean to you? How does it feel? Feel free to write creatively and imaginatively. Example: Smoothlands: fragments/ landscapes/fragments (Wylie, 2006; Cultural Geographies). 

1.  Explain what landscapes teach us about our human-nature relationships. For example, you may consider the following questions: How do people bring the elements of nature into their built environment and why? What elements of nature do they include in the landscape and why? What elements do they exclude and why? What cultural values and ideas do these landscapes or this landscape reflect? 

1. Critically explore the question: Why do we need cultural landscapes? Your may want to focus on one cultural landscape in your discussion, so that your essay is contextual and concise. 

1. Critically explore the question: What do landscapes or a landscape tell us about our culture? You may choose one or more specific landscapes to explore this question

Approximate length: 1,200 – 1,500 words.

Use any referencing style that you choose but be sure that you are consistent. If you do not know a particular style, then follow that used in the textbook. Check your spelling and grammar carefully. Look back at the essay writing guidelines included in the Course Syllabus before you begin work on this essay. Be sure to engage our course content and 3 peer-reviewed articles. You may also want to consider the significance of the thesis statement in your essay https://www.umanitoba.ca/student/academiclearning/handouts/520.html 

1. Provide your reasoned opinion of the following statement.

‘What might have been?’ is one of the most interesting questions that historical cultural geographers might consider asking when conducting studies of landscape change.

• This statement is worth 3 marks.

• About 300 words.

• There is no correct answer; rather you are being asked for your opinion. There is no need to try and agree with a particular source material such as the text or this course material.

• As this is a statement of your opinion, references are not necessary.

• Check your spelling and grammar carefully.

1. Provide a factual statement on the following topic.

The changing Prairie landscape, from about 1500 to the present.

• This statement is worth 2 marks.

• Provide about one page of information.

• Use maps, tables, and figures if appropriate; your writing may be limited to only a few sentences.

• Provide a reference to the principal source used. If you are stating what you know rather than using a specific source, then please say so.

Alternatively, you may approach this assignment through a creative and arts-based method. This means that your essay or opinion or factual statement do not have to be in a narrative format; these learning activities can be expressed and represented in any format and through any medium (e.g., your own self-authored analytic poem, free verse, visual art, collage, recorded dance, spoken word, play, etc; it is up to you how to express your new knowledge/understanding and how to represent it).