Photo: Leslie Shahi

Exploring the Relationship between Nature and Culture
In 2004, the Institute collaborated with the NPS Northeast Region and Marsh-Billings- Rockefeller National Historical Park to host a civic engagement seminar, “Contested Landscapes: Humans and Nature in National Parks.” This workshop explored the challenges of interpreting American landscapes and, in particular, national parks with discordant views about natural and cultural resources.

Photo: Barbara Slaiby

Dr. Edward T. Linenthal (Professor of Religious and American Culture at the University of Wisconsin) and Dr. William Cronon (Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin) served as seminar discussion leaders. Three case studies—Cuyahoga River Valley National Park, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park—demonstrated the dilemmas involved with managing public landscapes that are rich in history, cultural traditions, and dynamic natural ecosystems. Deliberations highlighted the importance of public lands as places of learning and as great laboratories for cultivating a more mindful and integrated relationship with our natural and cultural environment. Participants acknowledged the deeply held values in the NPS and in American society, and discussed ways that civic engagement contributes ideas related to site-specific management as well as defining new intellectual constructs for a more complex meaning of place.