Exploring "Sense of Place" Through Photography of McDowell-Sonoran Conservancy Volunteers
This public lecture is based on a research project that investigates how volunteering with the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, a nonprofit that helps the City of Scottsdale manage the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, affects the volunteers' relationship to the community through their attachment to place.
Over the last year, School of Human Evolution and Social Change PhD candidate Ryan Bleam has recruited 18 Conservancy volunteers to participate in the project by photographing places in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and in their communities that are meaningful to them. Bleam looked at common themes in the meaning and geography of participants' photos and will share his findings in this insightful talk that celebrates Arizona's local community.
The public lecture will coincide with an exhibit, entitled "My pile of rocks," that showcases the participants' photos and the unique meanings behind the places they reveal. The exhibit is set to run from the first week of November through the first week of January.