Call for book chapter proposals: "Constructing Cultural Landscapes: Spatial Perspectives on Place, Identity, and Human Experience."

Spatial relationships are fundamental to human experience, shaping how people construct identities, navigate landscapes, and interact with their environments. Throughout history, space has been structured, contested, and reimagined through economic systems, religious beliefs, political power, and cultural traditions. From sacred sites and trade networks to urban planning and shifting borders, spatial relationships influence how societies function and evolve. Understanding these dynamics provides critical insights into both past and present human interactions with place and landscape.

This volume will bring together scholars from archaeology, anthropology, geography, and related disciplines to examine how spatial perspectives deepen our understanding of cultural landscapes, memory, movement, and identity. We seek contributions that explore how space is constructed, perceived, and experienced across time through historical processes, geospatial analysis, archaeological investigation, material culture, and narrative reconstructions. Chapters should engage with spatial approaches to place, identity, and human experience, offering theoretical insights, methodological advancements, or case study-based perspectives. Submissions may focus on historical or contemporary societies and draw from diverse analytical frameworks and data sources, including archaeological evidence, ethnographic research, geospatial technologies, historical records, oral traditions, and digital humanities.

Topics of Interest

We welcome submissions on a range of topics, including but not limited to:

• How spatial relationships shape cultural identity, collective memory, and human interaction with the environment.
• The spatial networks of ritual and religious sites and their significance in past and present societies.
• The influence of trade routes, migration patterns, and transportation systems on human societies.
• How societies structured, controlled, and navigated their environments, from households to cities and regional landscapes.
• The historical construction, contestation, and navigation of borders and contact zones.
• The intersections of Indigenous spatial knowledge and colonial mapping practices.
• Geospatial and archaeological approaches to reconstructing landscapes, documenting sites, and analyzing movement networks.
• Multi-scalar perspectives on past environments through excavation, survey, and digital modeling.
• The role of maps, reconstructions, and interactive narratives in communicating spatial histories.
• The use of historical records, literature, and oral traditions to reconstruct spatial practices and landscapes.
• The influence of geography, climate, and ecology on settlement patterns and human behavior.
• How people form connections to places and how landscapes retain significance across generations.
• Ethical considerations in geospatial research, data access, and the use of historical and oral records in cultural heritage.

Submission Guidelines

We invite proposals for individual and co-authored pieces for chapters of 5000 to 8000 words. All submissions must be original contributions and may not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. All chapters will undergo peer review.

Please send chapter proposals to brycepeacher@ucf.edu by June 1, 2025. Proposals should include an abstract of up to 500 words, a brief outline of the chapter’s content, a short biography for each author, and up to 5 keywords.