Our writing assignments . . .
can encourage this kind of inquiry into our relationships to each other and to the places we live and also to foster critical skills that capitalize on the interplay between the abstract (our thought) and the concrete (our physical place of living). One such example is Derek Owen's (2001) writing assignments that ask students to carefully examine their neighborhoods and the places where they live and work (30-33). Another example is the first-year writing program at Northern Arizona University, which is structured around the theme of place in a way that begins to foster a critical sensitivity to land and environment and our inherent connection to both.