From Ansel Adams to Instagram: Tracing Inflection Points in the American Relationship with Nature via the National Parks

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: This thesis asks what technological and corresponding ideological innovations caused the American relationship with nature to shift over time. It uses the national parks as an isotope, akin to a dye that measures the changes in attitude and cultural norms. While convention approaches nature as a static entity, I argue that the American relationship with nature is dynamic. Specifically, my thesis explores four inflection points, and explains how the American understanding of “nature” pivoted at each of these points —the creation of the National Park Service and zone photography, the construction of the Interstate Highway System and invention of Winnebagos, the utilization of satellite imagery to capture Earth from space, and the popularization of social media—with an increased emphasis placed on the investigation of social media. I rely upon analysis of relevant environmental literature and a survey (n=564) to draw conclusions about the manner in which our interactions in the parks have transformed. Primary research and analysis of the literature show an increasingly democratic association to the natural world and an enhanced but not universal appreciation for the ecological impacts of nature in the present day. There appears to be a tradeoff between democracy and the sublime in the national park experience.

Type of resource	text
Date created	2017

Author	Stebbins, Emily
Primary advisor	Hoyos, Héctor

Subject	Program in Science Technology and Society
Subject	Stanford University
Subject	STS
Subject	National parks
Subject	Nature and technology
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/pj282pb6823

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).

Preferred Citation: Stebbins, Emily. (2017). From Ansel Adams to Instagram: Tracing Inflection Points in the American Relationship with Nature via the National Parks. Unpublished Honors Thesis. Stanford University, Stanford CA.

Stanford University, Program in Science, Technology and Society, Honors Theses

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