From UPenn Libraries:
By mapping real and imagined places, scholars can better argue and represent the significance of space and place in human experience and social structures.
But, maps themselves carry assumptions and connotations. From Introduction to Digital Humanities:
Maps are highly conventionalized representations, distortions, but they do not come with instruction books or warnings about how to read their encoding. In learning how to use GIS (Geo-Spatial Information Systems) built in digital environments, we can also learn to expose the assumptions encoded in maps of all kinds, and to ask how the digitization process reinforces certain kinds of attitudes towards knowledge in its own formats.
Goals
- Think critically about space and spacial representations
- Create a map and interpret the results of the project
Resources
- Basics of Mapping for the Digital Humanities (UCLA Sandbox)
- Digital Humanities Tools and Resources: GIS and Mapping (University of Texas Library system)
- DH GIS Projects
- Mapping the Digital Humanities
- GIS for Language and Literary Studies
- Building a Map of Mrs. Dalloway
- Mapping Literary Visions (Duke University)
- Story Maps and the Digital Humanities (ESRI)
Content
- Mapping Experiences and Access to Opportunity in Cities: Amy Hillier at TEDxPhilly
- Mapping the Slums: Erica Hagen
- The Frightening Future of Digital Maps: Monica Stephens
- TEDxKC — Patrick Meier — Changing The World, One Map At A Time
- New Digital Maps vs. Old Paper Maps (PBS)
- Seeing the World in a Different Way through Digital Maps (PBS)
Tools
Suggested Tasks
- Create a map of significant locations in a novel, short story, or TV series that you know (for inspiration
- Inspiration: Mapping Mrs. Dalloway
- Create a map/timeline interface that shows how a small area has changed over time
- Use a map to show differences or preferences by geographic area or state
- Inspiration: Nothing Divides Voters like Owning a Gun.
