Abstract

Interpretation is an emerging professional area that combines education with entertainment, typically in a leisure setting. Topics of interpretation are often centered around the environment, but can also derived from cultural and historic subjects. Interpreters develop programmatic themes from discrete factual topics, and these themes are often value-laden and inclusive of a moral. ;Very little research has been done to establish either the process by which themes develop, or the possible influences of the individual interpreter on the interpretive act. ;Many scholars have discussed the relationship between a person's religious identification and their attitudes toward the environment. It is believed by many that an over-arching value system, such as religion, has an influence on the moral positions one may accept toward nature. Some specific religious traditions, such as Judaism and Christianity, have been assigned blame for negative environmental attitudes. ;This exploratory research project examines the religious identifications and environmental attitudes among a sample group of interpreters, and explores the association between these variables, through multiple methods approach. Additionally, the impacts of these variables and their interactions on the interpretive process are examined. ;The results of this research project show a strong association between religious identification and environmental attitudes within the population of interpreters, and suggest that the interaction of these variables influences the development of interpretive program themes