Two
long term research projects are designed to explore relationships
between heritage resources, tourism, and place-based consciousness
in the Chesapeake Bay region. The first study is focused on
the role played by tourism in the conception of the Delmarva peninsula
as a distinct place. A central premise of this research is that
tourism development and touristic practices play major roles in how
people and places are represented. In turn, these representations
can have important implications in terms of how a region is developed,
who has access to its economic, cultural and natural resources, and
can result in increased conflict regarding resource uses. Tourism
can lead to change in occupational patterns, in the uses of the natural
environment, in local ethnic relations, and in how the heritage of
a region is described and ultimately valued. The second study
deals with conceptions of heritage and the role played by heritage
resource management practices in shaping the identity of places as
well as in determining relationships between “natural” and “cultural”
heritage. The focus is on representations of heritage in the
Chesapeake Bay region.
Funding for the
research has been provided by Maryland Sea Grant and the University
of Maryland General Research Board.
