This dissertation articulates the ways in which black (e)migration to the territorial frontier challenges the master frontier narratives as well as African American migration narratives, and to capture how black frontier settlers and settlements are represented in three contemporary novels. I explore through the lens of cultural geography the racialized landscapes of the real and symbolic American South and the real, symbolic and imaginary black territorial frontier. Borrowing perspectives from cultural and critical race studies, I aim to show the theoretical and practical significance of contemporary literary representations of an almost forgotten historical past. Chapter I traces the sites of history, memory and imagination in migration and frontier narratives of enslaved and newly freed black people in the Oklahoma Territory. Chapter II addresses an oppositional narrative of masculinity in frontier narratives depicted in Standing at the Scratch Line by Guy Johnson. Chapter III examines how the black frontier landscape can be created and recreated across three generations who endure racial threats, violence and the razing of Greenwood during the Tulsa Riot of 1921 in Magic City by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Chapter IV scrutinizes the construction of black frontier subjects and exclusive black communities in Paradise by Toni Morrison. My dissertation seeks to add to and expand the literary studies of migration and frontier narratives, taking into account two popular novels alongside a more academically recognized novel. The selected novels mobilize very different resources, but collectively offer insights into black frontier identities and settlements as sites of a past, present and future African American collective consciousness.

Vad räknas som språk? Det var den fundering som först uppkom då beslutet att utföra en studie i ämnet språkliga landskap var fattat. När vi satte oss in i forskningen på området insåg vi att det språkliga landskapet kan utgöras av mer än exempelvis skriftspråk eller verbalt språk, såsom exempelvis svenska, engelska eller arabiska.  Vi antog därför ett dynamiskt perspektiv på flerspråkighet och valde att, utöver skriftspråk, inkludera sådant som teckenspråk, bildstöd, normer, symboler, stödstrukturer och identitet- och nationalitetssymboler i vår definition av språk, och därmed även i insamlingen av data.  Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur det språkliga landskapet ser ut i en svensk grundskola, samt att få lärares-, fritidspersonals- och skollednings perspektiv på, och tankar kring, skolans språkliga landskap. De forskningsfrågor som besvaras är 1. Hur ser det språkliga landskapet i den undersökta skolan ut? och 2. Vilka uppfattningar och föreställningar påverkar utformningen av skolans språkliga landskap?  Studien genomfördes i två steg, dels genom observation och fotografering av skolans fysiska utrymmen, dels genom kvalitativa intervjuer med två lärare, biträdande rektor samt en fritidspersonal.  I studien framkom ett språkligt landskap där svenskt skriftspråk dominerade. Vidare användes bildstöd i kombination med svenska frekvent i samtliga observerade utrymmen. Engelska förekom i ett antal stödstrukturer och på affischer. TAKK (tecken som alternativt och kompletterande kommunikationssätt) förekom i ett klassrum. I det språkliga landskapet uttrycktes även normer och värderingar riktade till elever, från lärare, skrivna uteslutande på svenska. Övergripande framkom att det inte fanns någon allomfattande policy för utformningen av skolans språkliga landskap, utan att de val som gjordes oftast baserades på lärares egna uppfattningar och åsikter. Däremot uttryckte samtliga intervjuade personliga åsikter och medvetna förhållningssätt dels till utformningen av skolans språkliga landskap, dels till flerspråkighet i allmänhet. Sammantaget visade undersökningen ett språkligt landskap som varierade från rum till rum, och där flerspråkighet främst gavs utrymme baserat på enskilda peroners val, uppfattningar och åsikter.

Ambiences that represent environments or landscapes play a crucial role in the soundtrack of a film when the geographic setting is important for the film’s narrative. When sound designers can encourage viewers to both notice and accept the environment displayed in the film, this can contribute to an immersive experience. Prior research has discussed how changes in the level of detail, or complexity, of ambiences and soundscapes can affect the perceived immersion of a film experience. This study aims to further investigate this topic by looking at how the complexity of a minor category of sound elements, environmental sounds, affects the immersiveness of a film scene. A listening/viewing test was conducted in a controlled studio environment where participants watched a video segment that was synced to two different versions of an environmental soundscape. One version was more complex than the other. All of the subjects watched and listened to the same video-soundscape combinations. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through an online questionnaire. The participants were asked to rate the video segments for immersion-related qualities and to motivate their ratings. The results did not show enough statistical significance to support the idea that a change in complexity affects all of the three qualities perceived presence, realism and how accurately the amount of sonic details matched the picture. However, the subjects’ motivations of their ratings for perceived presence and realism indicate that a detailed, layered soundscape that includes rarely occurring sound elements provides a stronger experience of presence and realism. Future research based on the findings from this study is presented.

This dissertation explores the importance of tourism and tourability to contemporary global politics. I argue that the global movement of tourists (declared by the UN World Tourism Organization as a ‘right to tour’) is made possible in part through what I call the production of tourability – the capacity of particular places, bodies, or experiences to be toured and to be seen as worthy of touring. Rather than a natural result of difference, tourability is a political process that involves contestations over what and who counts, how space should be organized, and how and what histories are told. I show that touristic movement is based on a specifically neoliberal mobility – a form of free movement that lays claim to ‘borderlessness’ and infinite access along lines eerily familiar to those claimed by contemporary capital – and use this to argue that the work of making places tourable is also designed in specific ways to facilitate this kind of movement. Thus, being tourable is part of the transnational politics of contemporary governance and is useful to constructing the boundaries of (in)appropriate movement. At the same time, the continual expansion of tourism across the Global South has given ‘being tourable’ important economic and political stakes for life, subjectivity, and land. To understand the interweaving of these stakes and the transnational mobility being produced, I examine two sites where tourability has been thrown into question by those whose work produces it. The first is situated at the tri-border region of the Colombian Amazon on the shores between Brazil and Peru that has, in recent years, seen a boom of tourism development and visitors. This boom has largely operated on the neoliberal designs of movement and contemporary development that promote access to tourable places as an enactment of freedom. Against this backdrop, a story circulating in early 2011 highlighted the decision by members of Nazaret, an indigenous community along the river, to refuse tourists and tour companies entry. Taking up this small and messy act, I interrogate around this refusal to examine how touristic mobility is being made (im)possible in this small corner of the Amazon. The second site is a tour designed by the indigenous Hñähñu community of El Alberto, Mexico, that takes participants on a simulated border-crossing to experience, as so many of these community members have, what it is like to cross the U.S.-Mexico border as an undocumented migrant. Impressive, provocative, complex, and controversial, this tour throws into question both how mobilities are addressed within touristic sites and the creative potential of those who are toured to make use of its practices in ways that further other aims. Using concepts of work, landscapes, circulation, and friction, I explore both production and refusal to elaborate on the transnational politics of tourism as neither a panacea nor as an afterthought, but as a sticky, messy, and significant part of global political life. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Urbanization alters the natural soil structure of landscapes. This has a negative impact on the environment. This degradation of the soil in the urban environment needs management practices that protect and restore the nutrient value in the soil. Soil is one of the most essential elements of landscapes. High quality soils make a major contribution to cleaning water, acting as a filtration system that purifies the water it absorbs. Soil also sustains microorganisms that promote vegetation growth and consequently food production, one of the most important human activities that allows us to thrive as a society. The poor soil conditions in the urban environment make it very difficult to sustain healthy trees and vegetation. Urban soil is "modified through the regrading, compaction, cutting and filling, and, sometimes, contamination that comes with creating buildings, roads and associated land uses", changing the physical, chemical and biological structure of soil. (Trowbridge and Bassuk 3) In general, urban areas require better waste management methods that could use an abundant resource of food and yard waste to make compost. This thesis focuses on composting organic waste in the McNair neighborhood of Fairfax County in order to produce a resource to improve the soil conditions. This improvement would support the vegetation in this urban environment, and, in addition, sequester carbon and divert materials that otherwise would go to landfills. This thesis demonstrates a sustainable method for composting food and yard waste in a mixed-use community in northern Virginia turning waste material into a resource. / Master of Landscape Architecture / The growth of cities has a negative impact on the native soil and vegetation. The expansion of urban areas weakens the microorganisms that live in the soils through soil compaction for the construction of roads and buildings, runoff pollution and the use of chemicals in lawns and gardens. These urban conditions challenge the growth of trees and vegetation in general. Using sustainable waste management practices in cities we can turn organic waste material and turn it into an organic fertilizer to sustain the microorganisms in the soil and promote the growth of vegetation in urban areas. This thesis focuses in composting food waste and yard waste in the McNair neighborhood in Fairfax in order to turn a waste material into a local resource that benefits the community by sustaining green areas and diverting organic waste from going to landfills.

Increasing international attention has been directed to the landscape perception research in the past three decades. Much research has been done. And there is a growing need for a consistent and comprehensive theoretical framework to guide the multi-disciplinary nature of the field. Two broad bases for such a comprehensive theoretical framework have been identified: biological perspective and cultural explanation. This study is developed to validate one of the major theories in the biological perspective to landscape perception-- prospect-refuge theory. The theory postulates that landscapes with opportunities to see (prospect) and places to hide (refuge) are aesthetically pleasurable as they satisfy humans’ basic survival needs. Landscape paintings of different historical periods in Chinese and Western cultures were adopted as a medium of study. Paintings representative of various historical periods and diverse styles were selected and rated for preference, prospect, and refuge by Chinese students and spouses at Virginia Tech. The study found that Prospectrefuge symbolic system was present in Chinese and Western landscape paintings in different historical periods. However, no statistically significant support was found for the theory. The study concluded that prospect-refuge seems to be a common landscape perception system and seems to be biologically related. However, the validity of the prospect-refuge theory is still under question. More research is needed to understand humans’ common perception that are shared at the biological level. / Master of Landscape Architecture

Therapeutic landscapes involve the collaboration of landscape architecture, architecture, planning, and behavioral psychology. By incorporating research from each field and tailoring the design to a generalized special education elementary school, this project aims to create a multisensory experience that incorporates opportunities for play, education, community, and relaxation. Preliminary research explored the history of therapeutic landscapes and architectural design in historical psychiatric facilities, which then led to the current literature on therapeutic design for educational campuses. Findings show that the use of these therapeutic design principles are becoming more common, but there is still room for improvement. The proposed school site is based on the Bedford School in Fairburn, Georgia, but does incorporate the current academic program. The theoretical program for grades 1-6 focuses on cognitive ability, and relies on the outdoor space as an important part of the educational program. The proposed site design includes aromatherapy, tactile therapy, audial therapy, visual therapy, and levels of enclosure. The design will incorporate an open lawn area, a traditional playground, a music area with equipment and instruments, several outdoor classrooms, a produce garden, small, enclosed quiet rooms, a path with seasonal plants and seating areas, and a relocated soccer field. Given the constraints placed on this project, such as time, inability to visit the site, and inability to have discussions with the client, it is as complete as possible. That being said, future advancements in the field may build on it and create a fuller set of guidelines for multisensory therapeutic design. / Master of Landscape Architecture / Therapeutic landscapes involve the collaboration of landscape architecture, architecture, planning, and behavioral psychology. By incorporating research from each field and tailoring the design to a generalized special education elementary school, this project aims to create a multisensory experience that incorporates opportunities for play, education, community, and relaxation. Preliminary research explored the history of therapeutic landscapes and architectural design in historical psychiatric facilities, which then led to the current literature on therapeutic design for educational campuses. Findings show that the use of these therapeutic design principles are becoming more common, but there is still room for improvement. The proposed school site is based on the Bedford School in Fairburn, Georgia, but does incorporate the current academic program. The theoretical program for grades 1-6 focuses on cognitive ability, and relies on the outdoor space as an important part of the educational program. The proposed site design includes aromatherapy, tactile therapy, audial therapy, visual therapy, and levels of enclosure. The design will incorporate an open lawn area, a traditional playground, a music area with equipment and instruments, several outdoor classrooms, a produce garden, small, enclosed quiet rooms, a path with seasonal plants and seating areas, and a relocated soccer field. Given the constraints placed on this project, such as time, inability to visit the site, and inability to have discussions with the client, it is as complete as possible. That being said, future advancements in the field may build on it and create a fuller set of guidelines for multisensory therapeutic design.

Policy Capturing, a potential methodology for evaluating landscape preference, was described and tested. This methodology, tested and applied in industrial psychology since 1960, results in a mathematical model that theoretically represents the human decision-making process. Under experimental conditions, judges were asked to express their preferences for scenes of the Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia and North Carolina). A multivariate linear model simulating each judge's decision was computed by regressing landscape preferences onto 10 dimensions thought to influence such preferences. An equation which "captures," or defines the policy of each judge was generated. Individual equations were then clustered and a composite strategy calculated at each step until one overall policy was obtained. Coefficients of determination (R²'s) for some individuals were generally large (>0.50). However, composite R²'s were fairly low (<0.25). Methodological problems concerning the use of policy capturing for landscape assessment along with practical management applications are discussed. / Ph. D.

Historic research into the Virginia Springs reveals a collection of vital interconnected seasonal communities centered on retreat from the unhealthy environs of the coast and devoted to resort in the mountains. Prior to the Civil War the Virginia Springs became renowned internationally as the summer home of the region's and the nation's elite. The collapse of the southern economy during and following the war meant the reorganization and often the failure of most of the Springs. A revival of sorts took place among the Virginia Springs during the late 19th century, consciously referencing the earlier "golden age." Many Springs found new life as schools, church camps, retirement homes and smaller hotels. Many simply left the scene altogether. Today little remains in the landscape to suggest the scale and vitality of many of these dynamic seasonal communities. And yet retreat to a wilderness setting remains appealing. Perhaps most compelling are the persistence of landscape qualities that contributed to their reputations as places of healing and retreat, namely the mountain air, the wild scenery and the healing waters. The Virginia Springs are in fact at an ideal location and represent ideal conditions for a new chapter in our own relationship with wild nature. Preservation efforts ought to focus on articulating such a relationship of building to landscape. While the scale of such a retreat might not equal that of its predecessors, a revived Virginia Spring, such as the Healing Springs of Bath County, can say much about how we find retreat in the 21st century. / Master of Landscape Architecture

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