Lectures: W 1:00-3:30, Classroom Building 313
Dr. Matthew W. Wilson
Email: matthew.w.wilson@uky.edu
Twitter: @wilsonism
Office: Patterson Office Tower (POT) 861
Office Hours: email for an appointment
Drawing on the last twenty-five years of scholarship in critical cartography and critical GIS, this workshop begins from the premise that maps are more than windows on the world. Maps do not only provide a record of geographic phenomena but actually impact the conditions of knowing itself. This ‘more-than-representational’ viewpoint enables a productive urgency at the heart of a collaborative or participatory mapping endeavor. Therefore, the goal for this course is to prepare each student as a responsive and responsible mapmaker, at a moment in digital culture when there are many maps but few stories being told through them. To meet this goal, this course develops the concept of the ‘community mapshop’ – an intensive studio experience in which students use mapping technologies in collaboration with community partners. These partnerships will involve students in a full range of collaborative mapmaking: working with peers and community partners to invest in a study area, acquire and prepare data for spatial analyses, communicating with those impacted by or implicated in these analyses, and produce compelling geographic representations.
This course will expose students to the technical, critical, and collaborative skills necessary to analyze a range of human and environmental phenomena using tools of geographic representation. The studio model will allow students to develop and apply these skills in partnership with community organizations. This course is designed to help students:
This course will be composed entirely of studio sessions, which may involve some skill sharing, technical demonstrations, and guest speakers from the community. There will be in-class and extensive out-of-class assignments, and part of students’ assessments will be based on their observational and data collection work ‘in the field’. In our studio sessions, students will be expected to work constructively with their fellow classmates and visiting community partners.
While there are no required texts for this course, materials will be made available to students as necessary for the development of the studio projects. Students will be encouraged to conduct their own literature search and annotation for sharing with the studio.
Students will be assessed in this course using a variety of methods. Attendance and participation in studio is fundamental to successful completion of the course. Assessment is distributed in the following ways, for a total of 350 points:
Final grades will be based on a standard scale, i.e., A=90-100%; B=80-89%; C=70-79%; D=60-69%; E=less than 60%. Grades for all assignments will be available via the University of Kentucky Canvas system (http://uk.instructure.com).
To jump-start the studio, students will complete an initial site analysis of the study area using GIS, to include primary and secondary spatial data. Analysis should highlight and prioritize more formal lines of inquiry that will be pursued throughout the semester, with an identification of potential community partners that could be engaged during the studio. Students are encouraged to use QGIS and/or ArcGIS.
During the first few weeks of the semester, each student will sign-up for, prepare, and perform a technology demonstration during, or immediately following, the completion of their site analyses. This demonstration will require that the student show the instructor an ability to download spatial data, perform a tabular join with Census data, and visualize this joined data using an appropriate symbology.
Students will prepare a midterm review as a formalization of work-to-date completed in the studio. Progress will be demonstrated in three areas: (1) more advanced and focused geographic representation from the site analysis, (2) identification of potential community partners and elaboration of specific needs to be addressed, and (3) outline of next steps in refining the analysis, representation, and, as appropriate, the program. Evaluation of the midterm review will occur during class, with invited guest reviewers and community partners. Students with overlapping interests may choose to pair-up for the midterm review, with permission of the instructor.
The final review will need to demonstrate incorporation of feedback from the midterm review and further refinement of the project. Evaluation of the final review will occur during class, with invited guest reviewers and community partners. Students with overlapping interests may choose to pair-up for the final review, with permission of instructor, but each student must prepare a final report.
A final report (no more than two-pages, single-spaced, with illustrations included as appendices) should (1) communicate the current state of knowledge regarding the study area, (2) briefly overview the work completed, and (3) discuss the significance of this work and identify further work to be completed. The report may be directed to a specific community partner or organization. Supporting illustrations should be included as appendices in the final report. Delivery of final report should be as a PDF, with a compressed ZIP folder containing all original documents, map files, as well as primary and secondary data. Students are encouraged to submit drafts of the final report for feedback at least one week in advance of the final report deadline.
While attendance will not be taken, students are expected to attend all scheduled studio sessions. Throughout the semester, desk critiques will be conducted by the instructor and peer students and these ‘desk crits’ will contribute to a final evaluation of class participation.
Review the course syllabus carefully, paying special attention to due dates and assignment instructions. If you have questions about course expectations as overviewed by this syllabus, please contact the instructor as soon as possible.
Attendance is not taken nor required, however, note that:
In accordance with University guidelines, students must wear UK-approved face coverings in the classroom and academic buildings (e.g., faculty offices, laboratories, libraries, performance/design studios, and common study areas where students might congregate). If UK-approved face coverings are not worn over the nose and mouth, students will be asked to leave the classroom.
You are responsible for checking your UKY email account; Canvas is what will be used to send communications outside class. Email is the best way to contact the instructor. Please allow at least 24 hours for a response by email during weekdays. The instructor will not necessarily respond to emails over the weekends.
Students are strongly encouraged to exchange contact information with classmates, in order to facilitate the objectives of this studio.
Meetings of this course may be recorded. All video and audio recordings of lecturers and class meetings, provided by the instructors, are for educational use by students in this class only. They are available only through the Canvas shell for this course and are not to be copied, shared, or redistributed.
The University of Kentucky Student Code of Conduct defines Invasion of Privacy as using electronic or other devices to make a photographic, audio, or video record of any person without their prior knowledge or consent when such a recording is likely to cause injury or distress. As addressed in the Student Code of Conduct, students are expected to follow appropriate university policies and maintain the security of linkblue accounts used to access recorded class materials. Recordings may not be reproduced, shared with those not enrolled in the class, or uploaded to other online environments.
If the instructor or a University of Kentucky office plans any other uses for the recordings, beyond this class, students identifiable in the recordings will be notified to request consent prior to such use. In anticipation of such cases, students may be asked to complete an “authorization of use” form by a faculty member.
Video and audio recordings by students are not permitted during the class unless the student has received prior permission from the instructor. Any sharing, distribution, and or uploading of these recordings outside of the parameters of the class is prohibited. Students with specific recording accommodations approved by the Disability Resource Center should present their official documentation to the instructor.
All content for this course, including handouts, assignments, and lectures are the intellectual property of the instructors and cannot be reproduced or sold without prior permission from the instructors. A student may use the material for reasonable educational and professional purposes extending beyond this class, such as studying for a comprehensive or qualifying examination in a degree program, preparing for a professional or certification examination, or to assist in fulfilling responsibilities at a job or internship.
If you are having difficulty with any course material, please contact the instructor. There are also other resources which you might find useful:
Meeting deadlines is an important professional practice. Consult the course schedule, below, for the due dates of the course assignments. A 10-percent deduction will be applied to the final score of your assignment for submissions after the deadline on the same calendar day, with an additional 10-percent deduction for each additional calendar day the assignment is late. If the assignment is not delivered by the next class meeting, the assignment will not be accepted.
This course, if successful, will expose you to a variety of concepts and techniques. You are expected to draw upon these various ideas, but you must be transparent and honest about your use of these ideas. Please get help if you are uncertain about this expectation! Per university policy, students shall not plagiarize, cheat, or falsify or misuse academic records. Students should familiarize themselves with policies regarding Academic Offenses (available at https://www.uky.edu/universitysenate/ao). Please note: Any assignment you turn in may be submitted to an electronic database to check for plagiarism.
Students should at all times be respectful of fellow students, the professor or teaching assistant(s), and the University of Kentucky. Some basic reminders:
The University of Kentucky is committed to our core values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and human dignity, and a sense of community (Governing Regulations XIV, available at https://www.uky.edu/regs/gr14). We acknowledge and respect the seen and unseen diverse identities and experiences of all members of the university community (https://www.uky.edu/regs/gr14). These identities include but are not limited to those based on race, ethnicity, gender identity and expressions, ideas and perspectives, religious and cultural beliefs, sexual orientation, national origin, age, ability, and socioeconomic status. We are committed to equity and justice and providing a learning and engaging community in which every member is engaged, heard, and valued.
We strive to rectify and change behavior that is inconsistent with our principles and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. If students encounter such behavior in a course, they are encouraged to speak with the instructor of record and/or the Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity (available at https://www.uky.edu/eeo/). Students may also contact a faculty member within the department, program director, the director of undergraduate or graduate studies, the department chair, any college administrator, or the dean. All of these individuals are mandatory reporters under University policies.
To learn more about campus-wide policies on Excused Absences and Acceptable Excuses, Religious Observances, Verification of Absences, Make-Up Work, Excused Absences for Military Duties, Unexcused Absences, Prep Week and Reading Days, Accommodation Due to Disability, Non-Discrimination Statement and Title IX Information, please refer to Academic Policy Statements (available at https://www.uky.edu/universitysenate/acadpolicy). Please contact the instructor with any questions regarding these policies.
Subject to change.
| Week | Wednesday |
|---|---|
| 1: Aug. 25 |
Studio introduction Site introduction Introduce site analysis |
| 2: Sep. 1 |
Work on site analysis |
| 3: Sep. 8 |
Tech demonstrations Work on site analysis |
| 4: Sep. 15 |
Tech demonstrations Work on site analysis Site Analysis Due |
| 5: Sep. 22 |
Tech demonstrations Studio + Desk Critiques |
| 6: Sep. 29 |
Studio + Desk Critiques |
| 7: Oct. 6 |
Studio + Desk Critiques |
| 8: Oct. 13 |
Preparation for Midterm Review |
| 9: Oct. 20 |
Midterm Review |
| 10: Oct. 27 |
Studio + Desk Critiques |
| 11: Nov. 3 |
Studio + Desk Critiques |
| 12: Nov. 10 |
Preparation for Final Review |
| 13: Nov. 17 |
Pin-up with Architecture, Interiors, and LA |
| 14: Nov. 24 |
Thanksgiving Recess |
| 15: Dec. 1 |
Final Review |
| 16: Dec. 8 |
Preparation for Final Report |
Final Report Due: Wednesday, Dec 15th, 5pm on Canvas
Bertin, Jacques. 1983. Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps (WJ Berg, Trans.). Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, Ltd.
Bunge, William. 1971. Fitzgerald: geography of a revolution. Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman Pub. Co.
Chrisman, Nicholas R. 1999. What does ‘GIS’ mean? Transactions in GIS 3 (2):175-186.
Crampton, Jeremy W. 1995. The Ethics of GIS. Cartography and Geographic Information Systems 22 (1):84-89.
Elwood, Sarah A., and Matthew W. Wilson. 2017. Critical GIS pedagogies beyond ‘Week 10: Ethics’. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 31 (10):2098-2116.
Imhof, Eduard. 2007. Cartographic relief presentation. ESRI, Inc.
Knigge, LaDona, and Meghan Cope. 2006. Grounded visualization: integrating the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data through grounded theory and visualization. Environment and Planning A 38:2021-2037.
Robinson, Arthur Howard. 1952. The look of maps: an examination of cartographic design. University of Wisconsin Press.
Schein, Richard H. 2012. Urban Form and Racial Order. Urban Geography 33 (7):942-960.
Tufte, Edward R. 2001. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphics Press, 2nd edition.
Wilson, Matthew W. 2015. Paying attention, digital media, and community-based critical GIS. cultural geographies doi: 10.1177/1474474014539249.