Niches in Alaska- Revision

Johns Hopkins Inlet, National Park Service

Abstract:

The geographer John Muir spent most of his time looking at landscapes which shall be preserved. By identifying these national parks, he established many significant parks. One of which is the Glacial Bay Park in Alaska. Early in 1879, Muir had lavishly written about his voyages to Alaska, and his passion to find the epic landscape. He extensively documented, in writing, the experience in first person narrative. In extension, what is the collective experience of going to the icy cold desert? What is their perspective on the land?

Then, hence surveying the past and the present industry of the area, what is the reality and the way of inhabition of the people in the past and present? Shall these glacier expeditions in the past and new touristic trends impact the cycle of water at the global scale? If so, how?

This review aims to explore the past and the present social and industrial trends in Alaska and navigate the difference perceptions and interpretations of travelling to the cold desert. One may draw relationships between discourses and clarify misconceptions about Alaska. One may then began to question the greater impact of glacier voyages.

Literature Review Outline:

1. Research question

a. What is the global impact of glacial touring towards water cycle in Alaska?

b. Despite the desire for tourists to visit exotic glaciers, the cosmopolitians shall not neglect the intricate and complicated infrastructural systems involved in these tours which might bring significant impacts on climate change at the global scale.

2. Chronological overview of the literature

i. Perception of travelling to Alaska (past and present)

ii. The reality of Alaska (past and present)

-past inhabitants, industries, and cultural practices

=perception shift?

-present inhabitants, industries, and economic jargons

=different level of infranstructural systems

iii. The gaps in between these infrastructural systems, what are the opportunities from the household sacle to the global scale and what could be another paradigm shift

3. Bibliography (In progress)

a. Glacial Bay Park (Muir/National Park Service)

b. Chasing Ice, Documentary/ Biography (Directed by Jeff Orlowski)

c. America's Wild Space, Glacier National Park, Documentary (BBC)

d. Redniss, Lauren, Thunder & Lightning-Weather Past, Present, Future.