Brief
Maps are a symbolic representation of a real place, and maps can help us understand how human experience, literary work, and social structures experience and interact in space. Maps are also arguments about how those meanings are encoded and represented.
In this module, work with existing maps or create your own to learn how the digitization of spatial information can hide or expose assumptions about access, privilege, and meaning.
Learning Objectives
- Learn how research use maps to express arguments about complex historical events, social structures, and literary works
- Gather spatial information of some sort and represent that on a map
- Understand how different types of map views present spatial information and the various options within mapping software
Options and Variations
- Review two or more of the examples linked in the bibliography below, and write a blog post comparing their different approaches, different kinds of data, and different arguments
- Create a map of significant locations in a novel, short story, or TV series that you know. Use the "Mapping Mrs. Dalloway" assignment as a model.
- Create a map with a timeline component showing how a specific area has changed over time. Consider the Green Street Project and/or Perspectives on the Haram for inspiration.
- Use a map to show differences or preferences by geographic area or state.
