Constellations: HAA 2500 Special Topics American - The Washington, D.C. Mall: Landscape and Power
The Mall in Washington, D.C. – the unified symbolic center of the world's most powerful nation – is a relatively recent invention. Before the 1930s the area was a highly diversified landscape (racially, ecologically, and aesthetically). How and why this landscape metamorphosed into a unified "monumental core" for the nation will occupy the attention of our seminar. For theoretical underpinnings we will read around in cultural geography, landscape aesthetics, and urban planning, while staying grounded in the historical specificity of this transformation. Student research projects may focus on Mall-related topics or on other landscapes that raise similar issues (cross-cultural perspectives are welcome).
