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Assignment #1: Cultural Geography  Sacred Spaces The purpose of this assignment is to develop your understanding about the linkages between identify, culture, space and power

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Assignment #1: Cultural Geography 

Sacred Spaces

The purpose of this assignment is to develop your understanding about the linkages between identify, culture, space and power. The focus of this assignment is the notion of sacred space. A sacred space is a site that is dedicated to the memory of an event, person, or group and on this basis is distinguished from its ordinary surroundings. Cultural geographers use the term ‘sanctification’ to describe the creation of sacred spaces. Processes of sanctification typically involve the use of markers such as monuments, memorials, gardens, parks or buildings which are often dedicated to memory of an event, victims, a martyr or a hero. Sanctification demonstrates the relationship between landscape and memory. Working individually, you will write a proposal for the sanctification of a site, space or place near where you live. 

Background

This video explores the status of sacred sites in Britain and asks what makes them unique. 

Completing the Assignment

Step 1. Think about sites near where you live where a significant event occurred that has not been formally sanctified. 

Step 2. Once you have identified a site consider its current status. Is it seen in a similar way by all groups in the community? Is it contested by some groups in the community? Will it become more sacred over time? Or would some groups rather see it erased from the map?

Step 3. In 750-1000 words (3-4 pages double spaced), develop your own proposal for the sanctification of a site near where you live. In your proposal, address the following questions (5 marks each): 

1. What is the event, person or group that you believe deserves to be sanctified?
2. Why this site? What is the connection between the site and the event, person or group?
3. What is your plan for the site? How should it be transformed?
4. What message do you intend to convey through this transformation?
5. How will this site impact the community in which it is situated?

Step 4. Save your proposal as a PDF and submit it to the Cultural Geography

Assignment Submission Folder. Look for this folder in Week 10. ⁷

Marking Rubric

Components		Weight
Organization	Clear voice/ articulation; are the main points clearly communicated in an effective & focused way?	/5
Content	Detail/support; does the reflection address the question(s) posed? And with sufficient detail and support?	/25
Style	Sentence structure, grammar, spelling, word choice	/10
	Total	40

 

 

 

 

Guide for markers: 

Component	Excellent (full points)	Good (half points)	Poor (no points)
Organization	Well communicated; intro, body & summary; written in a focused and concise manner with good organization	Sufficiently communicated; decent organization but took a while to make their point; fairly concise	Not clearly communicated; poor organization; lacked focus; not very concise
Content	Answered question(s); provides in-depth and appropriate justification/ support; references provided	Partially answered question(s); lacking detail; insufficient or inappropriate justification/support	Did not answer question(s); no justification/support provided; response was off-topic
Grammar	Easy to read; good flow and sentence structure; almost no grammatical issues or spelling mistakes	Fairly easy to read (some parts could use better flow & structure); a few grammatical issues or spelling mistakes	Difficult to read; poor flow; many structural, grammatical, and spelling errors.