What sort of historical geographic information does a text like the Jesuit Relations offer to us as scholars? What can we learn (keep physical and cultural geo. in mind) from a collection of texts like this one? Be specific.
The Jesuit Relations.
For this week, you will be reading through excerpts from a collection of primary texts known as the
Jesuit Relations . As the name would suggest, Jesuit Relations are the accounts of Jesuit Priests in New France (France’s North American colonial territories) as they endeavored to missionize the area (introduce Catholicism). You will read an introduction from Alan Greer about the text as a whole and then a series of selected passages, each labelled with a descriptive heading. After you read the entire document provided you have a 2 page response essay to write.
In that essay you should address the following:
1.
What sort of historical geographic information does a text like the Jesuit Relations offer to us as scholars? What can we learn (keep physical and cultural geo. in mind) from a collection of texts like this one? Be specific.
2.
What are the problems and opportunities associated with these sorts of texts? The opportunities might be partially addressed in your answer to #1, but what cautions might we need to keep in place as we seek to glean historical geographic understanding from the text?
At least 2 full pages, double spaced with one inch margins. Be sure to put your name on it…but without some huge space-taking headings!
