Description
Pre-requisite: ARH 211
This course will examine the importance of community development on the Navajo nation through the concepts of Placeknowing and Placemaking. Placeknowing is a practice in a local place whose meaning is derived from a cultural construction. It underscores a holistic understanding of how places evolve through time and space. Placemaking refers to a collaborative process which facilitates creative patterns of use, paying attention to the physical, cultural and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution.
Based on case studies, and interaction with Navajo architects and artists, students will be introduced to the importance of these concepts as a means to address economic development, health, and education on the Navajo Nation. Students will become familiar with; Navajo worldviews as expressed in spatial terms: the significance of cultural landscapes on the Navajo Nation; resourse resiliency; and land use. Students will gain th