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DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS
OF MIDDLE AMERICA
by
Kevin Kelly
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE
(GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)
December 2011
Copyright 2011 Kevin Kelly
Object Description
| Title | Different geographical representations of middle America |
| Author | Kelly, Kevin |
| Author email | kellykr@usc.edu;kevinkellynj@gmail.com |
| Degree | Master of Science |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Geographic Information Science and Technology |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-07-18 |
| Date submitted | 2011-10-03 |
| Date approved | 2011-10-03 |
| Restricted until | 2011-10-03 |
| Date published | 2011-10-03 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Wilson, John |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Kemp, Karen Vos, Robert |
| Abstract | The 2008 presidential election and Sarah Palin's use of the term “real” America sparked a national debate about whether this concept further divided the nation into two distant parts, Red America and Blue America. For many the term Red America is meant to speak to “average” Americans who live in “average” places and earn “average” incomes. This is a major issue because the idea that “real” American places are a common occurrence is incorrect. Using an extensive literature review and advanced GIS techniques this study uses general social data to isolate actual geographic areas based on normative archetypes from political discourse, areas referred to as “real” and “fake” America. The study also challenged the notion of “real” America by finding the most “average” American places, the areas that best reflect the nation as a whole, and produced an “average” American landscape. The final part of the study compared these outputs and deciphered whether an area's 'realness or averageness' has a connection to recent political voting trends. To be clear the point of the study is not to find a place to label the ‘real America’, the point is to use the search itself as a means to demonstrate a problem. The question is not does the “real” America exist, there will be places that closely resemble the concept, the question is whether or not the “real” America speaks to a sizable percentage of the US population, and whether or not it describes the living conditions of the 'average American'. |
| Keyword | real America; Sarah Palin; voting behavior; geography; United States; USA; patriotism; America; small town; religion |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Rights | Kelly, Kevin |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume71/etd-KellyKevin-306.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF MIDDLE AMERICA by Kevin Kelly A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE (GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) December 2011 Copyright 2011 Kevin Kelly |
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