American geography professor interacts with LPU Students

Dr Ramesh Dhussa of Drake University interacting with LPU Students
Dr Ramesh Dhussa of Drake University interacting with LPU Students

JASWANT SINGH GANDAM & RAMAN NEHRA
India Post News Service

PHAGWARA: Eminent American geography educator Ramesh Chandra Dhussa of Drake University, Des Moines, interacted with hundreds of language, literature and geography students of Lovely Professional University (LPU) at an intensive-interactive ‘Talk on Literary Geographies’ organized by the university’s School of Social Sciences and Languages.
Interacting with the students, Dhussa stated: “Geography is not limited to its scientific meaning alone. It keeps on evolving with diverse human values, emotions, behaviors, interactions, imaginations, responses and mores of a particular area.”

He illustrated that undoubtedly geography is study of a place/space; however, experiencing and understanding of a place in reality is in different stages. It can be by reaching geography texts; visiting the place and reading the geography text; and, reading literary works of that place as well as visiting that particular place and reading concerned geographic text also. Through these steps, one can easily see regular evolvement in geographical details.
While talking about humanistic geography, Dhussa shared that the analysis of territorial settings in novels and stories as well as the study of landscapes, regions, and geographical phenomena have interested geographers for long.

Taking the example of fictional character Harry Potter, he said that as a form of cultural communication, literature may shape social relationships and foster particular landscape meanings, attitudes and values.
A member of Association of American Geographers, National Association Geographers India, Geography Alliance Iowa, Dhussa emphasized that in order to reach the geographical aspects of a particular place, an approach to literary aspects of that area is equally important.