Seminar Series "Inimkond/Humankind" Presents Professor Hannes Palang

Professor Hannes Palang, from the Tallinn University Estonian Institute of
Humanities, will deliver a paper entitled "The Landscape Playground". It is
one in a series of seminars "Inimkond/Humankind - Current Issues in
Anthropology and Beyond" which are held every fortnight. This seminar will
be held in auditorium N315 (Tallinn University Nova building) on Wednesday,
27 February from 18:00-20:00.Abstract:Some years ago, Marc Antop (2005)
listed urbanisation and accessibility as two of the main factors driving
landscape change. Paul Claval (2005) has drawn our attention to the fact
that cultivating the land – which once was the main activity for most of
the people – is not seen any more as an act God would like. From an area
of everyday hard work, landscape has turned into a playground in many
senses. And tourism has a role to play here. First of all, we are visiting
places that formerly were beyond our reach. Due to that, places treated as
hostile or useless are now seen as providing educational, scientific or
even recreational value. This will be elaborated on with the example
of boardwalks in Estonian bogs.Secondly, landscape is being used for all
sorts of recreational activities, games, adventures etc. Each of them
creates their own sign systems in the landscape, invisible for an
undedicated eye. Geocaching is one of such games. In this sense, landscape
acts similarly as in many aboriginal cultures – there are places that are
allowed for everyone and there are places, the secrets of which are known
only to the initiated ones. The initiation rites differ, though. And from
here there is a link to maps and mappings.Finally, Olwig’s (2004) ideas
about circulating reference will be dwelled upon: tourism creates images of
a landscape and those images start influencing the "reality". Where is the
real landscape after all?Hannes Palang is the director of the Tallinn
University Estonian Institute of Humanities, and he heads the Centre for
Landscape and Culture at Tallinn University. With degrees from Tartu and
Amsterdam, he is professor of human geography and involved in a large
number of research projects, editorial boards and professional and expert
bodies; for example, he is President of the Permanent European Conference
for the Study of the Rural Landscape. His past research ranges from
landscape diversity indexes to local participation and time layers. He has
been involved in many applied projects in planning valuable landscapes and
assessing their values. See the event on Facebook.The series of
seminars "Inimkond/Humankind - Current Issues in Anthropology and Beyond"
features speakers from anthropology and related fields, and fosters
discussion of their research with an interdisciplinary audience. It aims to
contribute to the culture of academic scholarship and debate at Tallinn
University. Speakers include local researchers as well as guests from a
variety of background disciplines including those with different
interpretations of anthropological theory and methodology. Presentations in
the seminar series will be of particular interest to staff and students in
anthropology, cultural theory, sociology, and history.For further
information about the seminar series, please contact:Franz KrauseE-mail:
franz.krause@tlu.ee