FALL 2024
TIME: 12:30-1:45pm MW
MW Room: DHHC 215
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Adam Sundberg
OFFICE: DH 220
OFFICE HOURS: 2pm – 4pm MW and by appointment
EMAIL: adamsundberg@creighton.edu
REQUIRED TEXTS/ TOOLS
Recommended purchase: Cynthia Brewer, Designed Maps: A Sourcebook for GIS Users (ESRI Press, 2008)
COURSE TOPICS:
This course is divided into four parts.
- Part One (Mapping, Territory, and History) An introduction to the key terminology and themes in the history of cartography including: the mapping impulse, visualizing change across space and time, and the global diversity of cartographic traditions.
- Part Two (Mapping Invisible Environments) focuses on thematic mapping, the rise of statistics, and the use of maps to evaluate the various ways maps have been used to interpret, reify, or enforce natural and social differentiation.
- Part Three (Mapping Disaster Environments) builds on lessons from previous course sections to evaluate the various ways maps can chart the causes and consequences of nature-induced disasters.
- Part Four (Mapping the Lived Environment) expands the scope of our analysis to consider the methods and consequences of mapping the earth on global and local scales in the 20th and 21st century.
Core & Mission Fit
Mapping is an art, a science, and a cultural practice. This course not only surveys the history of cartography from the fifteenth century to the present, but also challenges students to integrate the lessons of historical mapping and analysis into original mapping products using geospatial software. It introduces students to the broad themes in the production, meaning, and implications of mapping and applies them to the history of humanity’s relationship with the environment. They will also create and critique their own digital maps using geographic information systems. Students will thus participate in the map-making tradition, informed by technical skills gained in the course .
Just as importantly, students will critically analyze mapping as a technology that is reshaping the modern world. Our reliance upon digital technologies in particular demands educated citizens who understand and have appreciation for technology based tools useful in a wide spectrum of scenarios, from professional to personal life. To face these and other social, historical, and scientific challenges, our students need to develop the ability to use technology tools creatively to understand history and provide novel approaches or solutions to emerging problems. This course provides training in inquiry toward the use of mapping technology and provides an important perspective on the way technology can inform or enhance our understanding of and interaction with nature, as embraced by the Jesuit and Catholic love for the whole truth.
Designated Technology
Students will recognize that technology and the digitization of knowledge are powerful tools and will identify potential dangers concerning reliability, privacy, security, and/or equity
Students will use computers and/or related technology effectively for three of the following: research/creative production, analysis, communication, or collaborative work as appropriate for their discipline.
Part I. Mapping, Territory, and History
Week 1 – Introduction
Wed (Jan 10)
Syllabus - Introduction
Week 2 - Mapping Time & Space
Mon (Jan 15) - No Class - MLK Jr Day
Wed (Jan 17) -
Week 3 – Maps as Metaphor
Mon (Jan 22)
Blog Due - Email Dr. Sundberg url from DavidRumsey of your Gigapixel Map
Wed (Jan 24)
Part II. Mapping Invisible Environments
Week 4 – Mapping the Geophysical World
Mon (Jan 29)
Blog Due
Wed (Jan 31)
Week 5 – Mapping the Nation
Mon (Feb 5)
Blog Due
Wed (Feb 7)
Week 6 – Mapping Otherness
Mon (Feb 12)
Blog Due
Wed (Feb 14)
Week 7 – Mapping Urban Segregation
Mon (Feb 19)
Blog Due
Wed (Feb 21)
Part III. - Mapping Disaster Environments
Week 8 – Mapping Disease Environments
Mon (Feb 26)
Blog Due
Wed (Feb 28)
Mar 3-10 – NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK
Week 9 – Mapping Ecological & Economic Disaster
Mon (Mar 11)
Blog Due
Wed (Mar 13)
Week 10 – Story Mapping Flooding
Mon (Mar 18)
Wed (Mar 20)
NO CLASS - (Dr. Sundberg at Conference)
Part IV - Mapping the Lived Environment
Week 11 - Mapping & Ethics
Mon (Mar 25) - Bring Completed Katrina Storymap to class
Wed (Mar 27) - No Lecture - Blog Due - Blog should consider the ethical implications of mapping history. This post should be longer than the usual weekly blog. It should consider 1. the reading 2. the two projects below
MAR 28 - Last Day to Withdraw with a "W"
Week 12 – Mapping the Globe
Mon (Apr 1) - NO CLASS - EASTER BREAK
Wed (Apr 3)
Week 13 – GIS and Mapping Subjectivity
Mon (Apr 8)
Wed (Apr 10) -
Work Day
Week 14 – Cartographic Conventions
Mon (Apr 15) - What Makes Maps Work?
Wed (April 17) - Work Day
Week 15 – Work Week
Mon (Apr 22) - Work Day
Wed (Apr 24) - Work Day
Week 16 – Work Week
Mon (Apr 29) - Work Day
Wed (May 1) - Reading Day (NO CLASS)
FINALS WEEK
Mon (May 6) - Final Storymaps Due
Complete Peer Reviews of Student Projects by final date of semester
ASSIGNMENTS:
Your grade will be determined based on your performance during in-class participation as well as on exams and papers. A total of 1020 points are possible in this course, distributed as follows:
Final Project - 400 pts
Blog Posts and Gigapixel Assignment – 320 pts
Participation – 300 pts
Final Project
The final project is worth over thirty percent of the course grade and is the capstone of the course. The final project is divided into 5 stages.
- Stage 1. Research Question – (25 pts) Good historical questions are important because they ground good histories AND good maps. Your map needs to have a goal — a question that requires an answer. Your task is to write a two-paragraph questions to the course blog that lays out the research question and brief historical context. Ex. How has (insert city) demographic makeup changed over time, and how did those changes influence its suburban development? Which neighborhoods in (insert city) were most affected by the Great Influenza pandemic? How did the changing price of (insert crop) affect agriculture and rural society? All questions must be historical and spatial.
- Stage 2. Project Proposal – (50 pts) At this stage you will make decisions about how to present your historical question in mapped form. This one page proposal lays out 1. The scope of the project (how wide and area and how much time will your map/mapping product consider?) Make sure to keep the scope of the project manageable. 2. What are some of the possible sources (i.e. digital maps, online data, historical data, secondary sources) that will be employed in your digital mapping product? 3. What type of final project will you create/present? An interactive web map? A story map? Why is this the best way to present your question/data/answer? 4. A clear explanation of the value of this project as a piece of scholarship
- Stage 3. Data Collection –(50 pts) students must submit an “annotated” list of 10 potential sources of data (digital or physical) as well as 10 scholarly secondary sources that inform the historical meaning of the project. Historical questions require background research, both to gather historical data (primary sources, online or digital data) as well as sources to ground your map in historical context (secondary readings on your chosen material)
- Stage 4. "Rough Draft" (100 pts) - Each person will bring a working copy of their digital map. The maps need not be 100% complete, but students should also be prepared to explain how they plan to improve/enrich the map before the end of the semester. The more complete the map, the better feedback they will be able to receive.
- Stage 5. Final Draft – (150 pts) students will submit a final version of the map project by the end of the semester.
- Stage 6. Criticism - (25 pts) All members of the course will conduct peer review of final mapping projects using skills and knowledge developed during the course. Student will post their criticisms online via the course blog
Course Blog:
All information (including this syllabus) will be available via the course blog. All readings, responses, and assignments will be posted to this course blog as well. Students are expected to read the weekly assignment, critique the map(s), and post their responses to the blog every Monday prior to class. Responses can integrate readings from previous weeks and are required to include perspectives from the current week. The core of the response should focus on the primary source material, especially the weekly map(s). Practicum exercises will also be posted to the blog. The blog is a living document that shows the development of the course and student projects. Blogging is a flexible format that facilitates a wide range of media and students are encouraged to integrate visual and digital sources into their assigned responses and projects. Students are expected to treat writing assignments as professional development and all standards of academic writing will apply in the blog post as well.
Participation:
The participation grade applies to in-class discussion of the readings and maps and the practicums. All readings must be completed by the assigned date on the syllabus (Mondays, unless otherwise stated). All practicums must be completed by the end of the course. A sizable percentage of the final grade will depends on the frequency and quality of your comments in class. This requires reading the material and formulating ideas and opinions before your arrive at class.
Grading Scale:
- A: 94-100
- A-: 90-93
- B+: 87-89
- B: 84-86
- B-: 80-83
- C+: 77-79
- C: 74-76
- C-: 70-73
- D: 69-60
- F: 59 and below
CLASS CONDUCT/AV RECORDING
Audio and/or video recordings of lectures and discussion are prohibited without express consent of the instructor
LATE PENALTIES:
Assignments will be deducted 1/2 of a letter grade for each 24-hour period they are late.
ATTENDANCE:
Education demands your active involvement, therefore daily attendance is required. I will keep track of attendance at the beginning of every class period. One absence will be excused per student, regardless of reason. For every subsequent absence, students will have 2% deducted from their final grade. Exceptions to this rule will be very limited and only granted in circumstances left up to the discretion of the instructor.
PLAGIARISM & ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT:
Academic misconduct will not be tolerated. This includes plagiarism. Do not attempt to use others works without proper citation. Acknowledge the source material for all of your work. In the event of plagiarism, the student will receive zero points for the assignment. While plagiarism is the most common form of academic misconduct, it also extends to the disruption of class, threatening behavior, cheating or misrepresentation.
In the event of plagiarism, the student will receive zero points for the assignment.
Emergency Cancellation Policy
In the event of a disruption of normal classroom activities due to emergencies such as a disease outbreak the format for this course may be modified to enable completion of the course. In that event, you will be provided an addendum to this syllabus that will supersede this version.
Disabilities
If you have a disability for which you need an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Disability Accommodations located in the Old Gym, Room 408 (402-280-2166) as early as possible in the semester.
Designated Technology:
- Students will use technology effectively for research, analysis, communication, and collaborative work.
- Students will recognize that technology and the digitization of knowledge are powerful tools and will identify potential dangers concerning reliability, privacy, security, and equity
DISABILITIES:
If you have a disability for which you need an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Disability Accommodations located in the Old Gym, Room 408 (402-280-2166) as early as possible in the semester.
WEATHER CANCELLATION:
In the event that inclement weather forces the university to close, the course schedule will be adapted at the discretion of the instructor. All changes to the syllabus (and notice of class cancellations) will come via BlueLine.
WRITING HELP:
Good writing is a skill that requires practice, but also guidance. Peer-review is acceptable as long as the authors create products that are demonstrably their own work. (see plagiarism and academic misconduct above). Also, feel free to stop by my office hours if you would like help. The Creighton Writing Center is the best option and an underutilized resource. You can schedule appointments at the Writing Center in Creighton Hall 136.