Sand & Water: Exploring Southwest Utah through Digital Humanities

By: Autumn Nuzman, Emily Mildenhall, and Sam Kanongataa

This website explores southwest Utah and its focus on sand and water through stories, maps, and visual data. The lens for this particular project is tourism, particularly how various tourist attractions in southwest Utah choose to promote themselves or are otherwise discussed. This project was created for a class in the Technical Writing & Digital Rhetoric master's program at Utah Tech University.

Photo of a stream in Zion National Park
"The Watchman, Zion National Park [Explore 01/22/13]" by Joe Parks is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Emily Mildenhall analyzes common themes in how Zion National Park promotes itself to attract tourists.

Photo of a sign reading "Silver Reef - The only place in the United States that Silver was discovered in sandstone. -Drive carefully-"
"Silver Reef Ghost Town - Silver Reef, UT" by las vegas lass is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Autumn Nuzman analyzes the various ways Washington County's ghost towns are remembered and promoted.

Photo of a set of boat docks at Sand Hollow State Park
"Sand Hollow State Park, Utah" by jpkrone is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Sam Kanongataa analyzes how Sand Hollow State Park promotes itself through the lens of adventure.

Links to the websites of our sister projects:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ghost Towns in Washington County

Image
By: Autumn Nuzman Sand and water are the lifeblood of southern Utah, but they have also contributed to local destruction. Whether it be through flooding, droughts, erosion, earthquakes, irrigation issues, or lack of mineable materials, sand and water have been the cause of many a ghost town in southern Utah, especially in Washington County. The patterns in the way these ghost towns were abandoned and their ties to sand and water certainly tell a fascinating tale in regard to how even life-giving resources can be a threat to pioneer settlements. Likewise, it can be interesting how some of Washington County's ghost towns are promoted or remembered in contrast to others. Patterns in Reasons for Abandonment Many of the ghost towns in southern Utah overlap in their reasons for abandonment, and those that don't are still worth noting given their intriguing nature. After all, a grasshopper plague is nothing to balk at ("Harrisburg"). Above is a chart showing how many of the ...
Read more

Adventure in Sand Hollow State Park

Image
By: Sam Kanongataa Southwest Utah is popularized by an exceeding amount of tourists year-round. Sand Hollow, one of the four state parks in Washington County, admitted more visitors than any other state park in 2021 with over 1.4 million. This analysis characterizes the beauty and attractiveness that so many visitors share and return to experience. Amusingly, sand and water are frequent symbols used to illustrate its beautiful-orange sand beaches and deep blue water. Sand Hollow embodies a gorgeous and unique story promoted by its beauty and endless recreational activity, and its features can prove it.  Sand Hollow's uniqueness comes from the ability to enjoy recreational activities by land and sea. Its activities alter from summer to winter. Not only can v isitors go ATV riding or simply reside on the ground campsites, they can also go b oating, rafting, paddle boarding, jet skiing, etc. Additionally, Sand Hollow offers friendly services: toilets, showers, running water, picnic ta...
Read more