This study uses ethnographic methods to investigate how people understand and relate to places in order to better understand the symbolic, meanings-based aspects of human-environment interaction. Through semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews, the research analyzes how stakeholders perceive and narrate the meanings and experiences related to the Midcoast Maine cultural landscape, and contributes to the relatively new scholarship on ‘cultured naturalness.’ This research aims to construct a fine-grained ethnographic rendering by means of a small sample size (n=13) and open-ended interviews. Residents' narratives are investigated to reveal the diversity and themes of place-meanings associated with the human and natural landscape. On a practical level, this research may assist local planners and land managers resolve or prevent land-use conflicts.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study uses ethnographic methods to investigate how people understand and relate to places in order to better understand the symbolic, meanings-based aspects of human-environment interaction. Through semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews, the research analyzes how stakeholders perceive and narrate the meanings and experiences related to the Midcoast Maine cultural landscape, and contributes to the relatively new scholarship on ‘cultured naturalness.’ This research aims to construct a fine-grained ethnographic rendering by means of a small sample size (n=13) and open-ended interviews. Residents' narratives are investigated to reveal the diversity and themes of place-meanings associated with the human and natural landscape. On a practical level, this research may assist local planners and land managers resolve or prevent land-use conflicts.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Stevens, Jebediah"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Geography","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Carol Atkinson-Palombo; Andrew Ballantine","Nathaniel Trumbull"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-08-22T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-08-22T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:31:45Z","subjects":["sense of place","place meanings","coastal","symbolic human-environment interaction","social construction of nature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/140","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Carol Atkinson-Palombo; Andrew Ballantine","Nathaniel Trumbull"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Stevens, Jebediah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-08-22T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Geography"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["sense of place","place meanings","coastal","symbolic human-environment interaction","social construction of nature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/140"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study uses ethnographic methods to investigate how people understand and relate to places in order to better understand the symbolic, meanings-based aspects of human-environment interaction. Through semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews, the research analyzes how stakeholders perceive and narrate the meanings and experiences related to the Midcoast Maine cultural landscape, and contributes to the relatively new scholarship on ‘cultured naturalness.’ This research aims to construct a fine-grained ethnographic rendering by means of a small sample size (n=13) and open-ended interviews. Residents' narratives are investigated to reveal the diversity and themes of place-meanings associated with the human and natural landscape. On a practical level, this research may assist local planners and land managers resolve or prevent land-use conflicts.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Exploring Symbolic Aspects Of Human-Environment Interaction In A Socially Constructed Coastscape: Sense Of Place In Coastal Maine"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Carol Atkinson-Palombo; Andrew Ballantine","Nathaniel Trumbull"],"dc:creator":["Stevens, Jebediah"],"dc:date.available":["2011-08-22T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study uses ethnographic methods to investigate how people understand and relate to places in order to better understand the symbolic, meanings-based aspects of human-environment interaction. Through semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews, the research analyzes how stakeholders perceive and narrate the meanings and experiences related to the Midcoast Maine cultural landscape, and contributes to the relatively new scholarship on ‘cultured naturalness.’ This research aims to construct a fine-grained ethnographic rendering by means of a small sample size (n=13) and open-ended interviews. Residents' narratives are investigated to reveal the diversity and themes of place-meanings associated with the human and natural landscape. On a practical level, this research may assist local planners and land managers resolve or prevent land-use conflicts.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/140"],"dc:subject":["sense of place","place meanings","coastal","symbolic human-environment interaction","social construction of nature"],"dc:title":["Exploring Symbolic Aspects Of Human-Environment Interaction In A Socially Constructed Coastscape: Sense Of Place In Coastal Maine"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Geography"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:31:45Z"}