Draft 2: An interdisciplinary approach to the concept of paradise

This topic submitted by Abby King and Amanda Swisher on 2/23/03. [ Rivers Team: Abby King and Amanda Swisher-Section: Garrison/Green]

1. Introduction
"Paradise- a place of ideal beauty or loveliness." This dictionary.com definition shows that paradise is an interesting concept; one that we believe deserves a closer look. "Hawaii is paradise with a punch!" (Orbitz.com), but hardly anyone would describe the area around Oxford, OH as such. When the state of Ohio describes Hueston Woods to tourists it speaks only of Òan enormous wealth of natural resourcesÓ and not of beauty.To begin our research we will first have to figure out exactly what makes a place a "paradise." Is it simply a place that is seemingly exotic and different from the everyday environment that the observer is used to? Or does paradise entail more than just a fresh perspective? Maybe it has to do with the temperature; air and water, the presence of vegetation, the presence of a beach, sunny blue skies, perhaps even a rainbow, or the presence of wildlife. We want to know what exactly the components are that make up a "paradise with a punch!" In his book, Longing for Paradise, Mario Jacoby describes a paradise as such:
The longing for freedom from conflict, suffering and derivation is an eternal human dream of great emotional power. It is the dream of total happiness, embodied in almost all cultures as the myth of Paradise. (vii)
Our research team would like to define a clear, interdisciplinary concept of paradise through history, American culture, biology, geomorphology, literature, religion, and art, and apply this knowledge through a comparison of a stream on the island of Oahu, HI to our very own Four Mile Creek here in Oxford, OH. Through observation, interviewing, and water testing we intend to get the bottom of just why a stream in Hawaii is considered a paradise and Four Mile Creek is not. We hypothesize that the same anthropocentric actions taken upon Four Mile Creek and Waikele Stream that detract from Four Mile CreekÕs natural beauty here in Ohio are ignored in Hawaii because of our need to support the fantasy of the paradise. We plan to take photographic evidence of both Four Mile Creek and Waikele Stream to further illustrate how exactly a paradise is seen visually. For our final product we will use our photographs as our primary tool for conveying our findings about the concept of paradise.

2. Lit review
Armstrong, John. The paradise myth. Oxford U. P.: London, New York. 1969. This will help us get another perspective on te fantasies and myths that help us escape our culture.
Ashton, John. The quest for paradise: visions of heaven and eternity of the worldÕs myths and religions. Harper: San Francisco. 2001.
This book will give us insight into the deeper meaning behind the idea of paradise. It describes in depth where the idea of paradise plays into human interpretation and understanding.
Berquiest, Goodwin and Bowers, Paul C. Jr. The New Eden: James Kilbourne and the Development of Ohio. University Press of America Inc.: Lanham, MD. 1983.
This book describes how Ohio came to be what it is today with a focus on OhioÕs beginnings. This is useful to our project because we are mainly concerned with what Ohio was like before it was touched by man.
Caslte, William R. Hawaii past and present. Dodd, Mead: New York. 1917. This book can act as a direct cultural artifact, a resource that shows historical perceptions of Hawaii that have led to todayÕs cultural constructions.
Dean, Tanya West, Speas, W. David. Along the Ohio Trail: A short History of Ohio Lands. The Auditor of the State: Jim Petro. 2002.
This book gives a brief history of the state of Ohio. It will be help us to better understand what Ohio was like when it was still considered a frontier. A time when Ohio was probably most like a paradise.
Furnas, J. C. Anatomy of paradise: Hawaii and the islands of the South Seas. W. Sloane Associates: New York. 1948.
FurnasÕ book gives great insight into how the natives of the islands of the South Seas viewed the invading conquerors. He details the nativesÕ theories as to why so many white men found their islands so intriguing and fascinating. Furnas also describes how literature influences the idea of paradise directly through misinformation.
Heinberg, Richard. Memories and visions of paradise: exploring the universal myth of a lost golden age. J. P. Tarcher: Los Angeles. 1989.
This may be less applicable to the idea of a paradise in terms of an Eden, but will allow us to understand the broader context of a paradise and societal ideals that serve as escapes which is pertinent to our project.
Huet, Pierre-Daniel. A treatise of the situation of Paradise. James Knapton: London. 1694. This will also provide a historical basis for the development of our concept of paradise.
Jacoby, Mario. The longing for paradise: psychological on an archetype. Sigo Press: Boston. 1985.
This book lays out the construct of paradise through a psychological lens. Jacoby explains the myth of paradise in every culture as evidence of a need to escape reality. We feel that this book will help us to understand the need for paradises in society and will give us perspective when investigating literature and art and the use of paradise through these cultural mediums.
Janson, H. W. History of Art Third Edition. Harry N. Abrams Inc.: New York. 1986.
This beautifully illustrated book will be useful by helping us to identify the use of paradise through art throughout history.
Jones, Dr. David T. The Story of the Oxford Vicinity. The Hamilton Printing Co.: Hamilton, OH. 1952
While this is a short book it will be useful because it specifically focuses on the area surrounding Four Mile Creek including Hueston Woods.
Morgan, Joseph R. Hawaii: A Geography. Westview Press: Boulder, CO. 1983.
The book is important for our project because the geography of Hawaii is a direct link to peopleÕs interpretations of the land. Climate and the geology of the land are two very important factors in determining whether or not a place is a paradise or not.
Ohio Department of Economic and Community Development. Beautiful Ohio.
This is a site seeing guide to Ohio. WeÕre unsure of the year it was published but itÕs full of great information about our great state.
Ohio River Handbook and Picture Album. Picture Marine Publishing: Cincinnati, OH. 1954.
This book is perfect for our project because it describes OhioÕs rivers through photographs. We hope to use this book for information as well as an example for our own final project.
Ohio: The Sesquicentennial of Statehood 1803-1953. United States Government Printing Press: Washington D.C. 1953
This book talks a lot about Ohio as a frontier. This is important to our project because if Four Mile Creek were ever considered a paradise that would be a good time frame. Before colonization Ohio was lush and diverse just as much of Hawaii is today.
Peirce, Neal R. The Pacific States of America; people, politics, and power in the five Pacific Basin States. W. W. Norton: New York. 1972.
This book will give us good insights into the culture of the Hawaiian people through the context of American culture.
Sanders, Randall E. A Guide to Ohio Streams. Streams Committee, Ohio Chapter of the American Fisheries Society: Colombus, OH. 2002).
Ohio Guide to Streams This guide provides some very practical facts about Ohio ecosystems that surround streams, giving us an appropriate knowledge of the watershed that includes Four-Mile Creek.
Sylvia, Mary, Sister. Nostalgia for paradise. Desclee: New York. 1965.
This books compares the idea of paradise to the bible. We feel that this may be important in determining where common perceptions and ideas of what exactly makes up a paradise come from.
Taylor, Albert Pierce. A narrative of the romance, adventure and history of the Hawaiian Islands, a complete historical account. Advertiser: Honolulu, HI. 1926.
This book will give us a solid understanding of the culture and history of the Hawaiian Islands.

http://www.tecsoc.org/culture/whatsculture.htm
This website outlines the specific reasons for why studying culture is important.

NAWQA Home for Great and Little MiamiRiver basins: http://oh.water.usgs.gov/miam.html
This is where the National Association for Water Quality Assessment posts there study unity information, data and other facts about the watershed that includes Four Mile Creek. It has maps showing land use, population, physiographic regions, etc.

NAWQA Home for Oahu: http://wwwdhihnl.wr.usgs.gov/nawqa/index.html
This site gives the same information for the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

NAWQA data for Hawaii
http://wwwdhihnl.wr.usgs.gov/nawqa/site_waihee.html
The significance of this site is in its links that describe geological processes of the Hawaiian islands.

www.usgs.gov
The water quality link on this site allows us to look at technical manuals for many water testing processes.

3. Interdisciplinary approach
Our process begins by looking at cultural and social factors, exploring what is the cultural construction of paradise, what it has meant in the past and what it means today. This will delve deeply into religion as a root of this myth, but will also involve history, politics, art and literature as displays of this concept as Òa force in human cultureÓ (Heinberg, 131) and the image that it creates. Geography will help us to critically apply this theory to two regions, allowing us to consider both cultural factors and physical characteristics of the regions. We will consider land use, weather, and natural resources as we concurrently look at the ecology and biology of the area and how people impact it. Is paradise status really based on how similar to a lush garden the area is? Does the water quality of a stream, the biodiversity of the riparian zone, and the biodiversity of the stream effect how we think of the stream? It must, because these factors effect appearance, and the image of the region, but to what extent does the objective ecological quality of a stream and its region impact how we think about it. We will use observations, data from other sources and data we have collected to draw these conclusions. Our goal is to come up with a set of reference data for each stream that relates to how it is a paradise. Because image is so important to the concept of paradise, the result of this study will be a photo essay supported by a paper; an interdisciplinary approach to conveying the synthesis of this information.

4. Research Design

The first step for our research will be coming up with a cultural and social concept of wilderness. We will use interpretations of the concept of paradise as well as direct cultural artifacts that point to a contemporary American understanding of paradise. Literature, art and academic articles can allow us to understand a historical context and basis for this construction. Is the construction related to our beginnings as a nation? Perhaps, this land was once a paradise that others sought out. Do our social constructions, our institutions, laws support this concept, or are they so far from it that they make this concept a fantasy and escape from our society? These types of questions will lead us to a balanced concept to use to develop the rest of the research.
The US Geological Society sponsors the National Association for Water Quality Assessment that provides comparable data from the Oahu basin in Hawaii and the Greater and Little Miami Basin in Ohio. This program can provide us with data on biodiversity, sediment size, organic chemicals in tissue and sediment as well as water quality, many of which are beyond our capabilities. We will use this data to asses the impact of people on the physical characteristics of each region and whether or not that affects the perception of the area.
We would like to measure some water quality ourselves, but due to restriction of our travel, must keep it simple. Comparing data we take at Four mile Creek and trying to compare that to Waikele Stream in Hawaii taken by the USGS would not be a sound method. The two methods could be very different due to our lack of experience and result in incomparable data. But, we should be able to bring back water samples that can be tested in the lab for the presence of certain ions. We will sample both streams at two places, one closer to human activity and one farther away. Sulfate and nitrate can be indicators of human impacts on the watershed and are relevant tests. Both tests require that a small sample be taken from the stream and mixed with indicator chemicals. The color the water turns shows the level of the ions present. We will also test the pH of the samples, which is done with a small instrument that gives a direct reading of the pH. These factors can impact the biodiversity and the ecology of the stream, and also indicate the human impacts and thereby are important to our overall study,
At both places, we will be doing deep observation, very similar to Annie DilliardÕs observations in her book, Pilgrim on Tinker Creek. We will spend a significant amount of time at both Waikele Stream in Hawaii and Four Mile Creek. We intend to gather information related to the sounds that we hear the scents in the air, the colors around us, and other observable information that is not quantifiable in data. This information is as important as any quantifiable data, and is very much related to the environment. We will need to do this at different parts along both of the streams, as both flow through more and less populated areas.
In addition to this direct scientific research, we would like to take a poll of tourists in Hawaii as to why they chose to go to Hawaii. We will simply go to a beach and ask at least fifty random people this question. We will follow up by asking why they chose Hawaii over a place in the continental United States. These answers should give us an indication of the attitudes surrounding travel to this paradise in the South Pacific.

5. Materials and Methods
For the water quality assessments, we will need plastic bottles to carry our samples in. The tests will require nitrate kits, sulfate kits, and an instrument that measures pH. We will not need any special materials for the observations or surveys other than our senses and our minds.
As our research team consists of two people who are both friends and roommates, it will be very easy to keep in close contact with one another which will greatly help facilitate the execution of this project. We will communicate openly about all of the work and divide it fairly. We will both try to keep in contact with people who can be of useful resources to us, at the USGS, University of Hawaii and on Western. Our project will run smoothly throughout the semester.
As the scientific data we are using is very straight forward, we will not need to use any specific statistical method beyond direct comparison. Our data sheet will be a very simple chart on which we can record the numbers we find. There will be four columns--pH, nitrate, sulfate, and observationsÑand four rowsÑWaikele sample A, Waikele Sample B, Four Mile Sample A and Four Mile Sample B.

Timeline for Research
Week 1-2 (Feb., 23- March 8): We will read about paradise from a globally historic and religious perspective We will spend time looking at art and literature that references paradise, especially in American culture. We will come up with a concept of paradise to use as a reference in preparation for our trip to Hawaii.
March 7- Fly to Hawaii. Hooray!
Week 3 (March 8-16): We will visit a stream in Hawaii, taking water samples at two areas and doing deep observations of the ecosystem and take photos of our experience. We will contact people from U. of Hawaii and the USGS who could be helpful. We will survey people at the beach. We will pick up tourist literature that describes HawaiiÕs natural landscape.
March 15- Fly home. Boo
Week 4 (March 17-23): We will test the water samples from Hawaii and organize our answers to the survey questions. We will read through any material we gather and think critically about our experience. We will process our photos.
Week 5 (March 24-30). We will visit Four Mile Creek and take water samples and observations. We will continue our reading of literature and relevant material, esp. focusing on the regions we are discussing,
Week 6 (March 31- April 6): We will analyze the water samples from Four Mile Creek. We will begin to retrieve data online and analyze it with our own.
Week 7 (April 7- April 13): We will visit Four Mile again to take pictures. We will process the photos and turn them into a finished product with our Hawaii photos. We will begin work on a paper and presentation.
Week 8 (April 14-April 21): Finish paper, photo essay and presentation,
Week 9 (April 22- April 28): Presentation.

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