The use of novels in geography classrooms

Abstract

An increased use of artistic literature as a resource in both teaching and research is evident in geography. With the growing interest of some scholars in the behavioral aspects of geography, traditional resources are being supplemented with more humanistic, subjective information sources. In historical geography, for example, literature is a particularly suitable resource for studies of man's role in past geographies and of human perception of past environments.1 Specialists in regional geography and area studies also have shown a growing appreciation of such sources.2 A parallel and related development has occurred in geographic education. In many different courses, but particularly in those dealing with regions, literature has become a recommended resource. The purposes of this paper are (1) to review the relevance of the novel as a resource for geographers and (2) to suggest that a current novel, Centennial, by James A. Michener,3 particularly warrants consideration for use in courses on the historical geography of the United States.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 14 citations exist upstream.