CELA wrap-up

This should probably be the last post on our trip to CELA 2007 at Penn State where we saw some good talks and great friends. Highlights included seeing some of our newer colleagues present their research and learning about the trends at LA programs nationwide. But particular standouts include a very techo-geeky discussion about 3D laser scanning of heritage buildings and sites and a discussion of ethics in participatory research and design. Tom Nieman presented a controversial paper on the work of planners in Nazi Germany, like Krebs and Geisler, and explored how Central Place Theory and an understanding of physical terrain influenced their misguided efforts to expand their motherland.

One of real highlights of the meeting was a panel celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the Landscape Journal. Presentations included Arnold Alanen and our own Darrel Morrison talking about their days as the first editors of the Journal. Ellen Deming spoke about the current challenges and opportunities facing the Journal as it attempts to remain relevant in a digital era. Someone pointed out that many researchers, if the Journal isn't digital then it doesn't exist.

A highlight of the session came as Jason Walker and Matt Powers presented some preliminary findings from a study of the content of the Journal over the last 25 years. Hope fully they will find a suitable outlet for a more detailed analysis than they were able to quickly present, but the findings were quite interesting. Walker and Powers found that 40% of LJ authors have their Ph.D. and nearly 75% of the published papers are written by single author. They also about a 1/3 of the authors as women but showed that in recent years it was closer to 2/3.

A personal note: One of the lowlights of the meeting was the constant confusion over University names. It seems to me like it shouldn't be that hard to tell the difference between Iowa State (which has an accredited and historic program) and Iowa (which does not). And introducing the speaker from a place like UNC when they are in fact from NC State should be especially easy to get right with notes. As an academic community with so few members, we should be able to keep this sort of thing straight.

State College turned out to be a fun town for a meeting with good food and nice exhibits. I really enjoyed their temporary exhibit on Ansel Adams and Edwin Land at the Palmer Museum of Art. I had no idea how much work Ansel Adams had done with Polaroids.