Spring 2024 • Tufts University Cross-listed with HIST-0179, FAH-0092, ARCH-0175, UEP-0103
| Term | Spring 2024 |
| Day/Time: | Tuesdays, 6:30-9pm |
| Location: | Data Lab, Tisch Library |
| Course Instructor: | Ian Spangler |
| Teaching assistant | Max O’Reilly |
| Office hours: | Thursdays, 1-3pm or by appointment on Zoom (Ian); Mondays, 12-1pm and Wednesdays, 1-2pm (Max) |
The humanities are becoming spatial, or maybe we are finally realizing that they always have been. Geography – the stuff of “where,” which encompasses material as concrete as the dirt on the earth to concepts as ephemeral as “space” and “belonging” – informs not only how texts, maps, and other objects are produced, but how we encounter them as readers and users. In recent years, improvements in computing technology and advancements in publicly-accessibly digital archives have harmonized with interest among researchers to conjure a nascent field of study focused on the derivation and analysis of structured geographic data from books, letters, paintings, and much more.
This semester, we explore the geospatial humanities, learning its techniques, studying its objects, and testing its limits. The course introduces geospatial theory, methods, and technology for applications in the humanities in past and present settings. We’ll sometimes use the term “GIS” (short for geographic information systems) to describe these geospatial tools. Typically, GIS is defined as a combination of software, data, methods, and hardware with capabilities for manipulating, analyzing, and displaying spatial data. We’ll explore spatial data structures, data creation, basic geodesy, spatial analysis, cartographic visualization, and more. Using the software ArcGIS Pro, you will learn how to use these tools effectively. Just as importantly, by incorporating insights from critical archival studies, indigenous and decolonial mapping, feminist geography, and more into your mapping practice, you will learn how to use them intentionally.
Students will learn to use GIS to answer humanistically-informed spatial questions. Detailed labs apply concepts presented in the lectures using a variety of geospatial software in the ArcGIS ecosystem (as well as basic data wrangling literacy in tools like Microsoft Excel). Assignments concentrate on creative applications of concepts covered in lectures and labs, including a final project in which students independently explore a topic from their own field of interest.
Major learning objectives include:
More concretely, by the end of this course, students will be able to do the following:
Grading will be based on a 1000-point scale. You can submit graded activities, labs, assignments up to one week late. By default, all late work will receive a 10% deduction. Details regarding all course assignments, including requirements for the final project and instructions for curations, will be made available on Canvas.
| Type | Quantity | Points per activity | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labs | 4 | 50 | 5% each (20% total) |
| Assignments | 4 | 75 | 7.5% each (30% total) |
| Participation | n/a | 150 | 15% |
| Final Project | n/a | 250 | 25% |
| Curation | 1 | 100 | 10% |
Beyond just showing up to class and paying attention during the lectures, students will develop a geospatial humanities skill set by completing various activities, labs, and assignments as well as a group curation. This skill set culminates in a final project on a topic of their choosing.
Nearly every week, we will spend time during class on some kind of activity. Some are bigger and some are smaller. Some are submitted and some are not. Overall, they count towards your participation grade.
Throughout the semester, students will be assigned five labs which explore theories, concepts, and approaches in greater depth. I will drop your lowest lab grade at the end of the semester. Each lab weaves together methods and concepts, using them in a software application (usually ArcGIS Pro), and application to a particular area of the humanities.
Assignments concentrate on self-directed application of concepts explored in lectures and labs. Eventually, you will use labs to focus on how geospatial humanities intersect with your own interests, building toward a final project that applies geospatial humanities methods to a topic of your choosing.
Before the end of the semester, you and 2-3 peers will work together on a curation – a deep dive into a geospatial humanities project, process, or product – presenting your findings to the class in roughly 10 minutes.
You should have your group and your curation topic selected by class time on Week 3. Detailed instructions are available on the course site.
Beginning officially in Week 8 – although you can, and should, start to think about it earlier – you will commence work on a final project. The final project is an opportunity to collect, process, analyze, and visualize spatial data of your own choosing. Using ArcGIS Pro, you’ll choose a topic and elaborate it in three registers: its conceptual register, its technical register, and its graphical register. The final product will result in a large-format infographic (poster) or an online interactive StoryMap that describes the research question, data, and methods as well as the analysis and the results. Examples of similar student projects can be found at Tufts GIS Expo Explorer.
Students may choose to exhibit their work at Tufts’ GIS Expo day on May 8 for 25 points (2.5% of overall grade) of extra credit.
You’ll have something to read just about every week: this is, after all, a “humanities” course just as well as a “geospatial” one. All readings are listed in the schedule, and they are available through online journal databases open to Tufts students, public web sites, or Canvas.
All cartographic work should adhere, when appropriate, to key principles of map design.
All written work should be consistent with the style guidelines of one of the major style guides. I have no preference for which one you choose – Chicago, MLA, and APA are all fine – but whatever you select must be applied consistently in your work.
To manage your readings and notes, I recommend downloading Zotero. It is a free, highly customizable software that allows you to take notes, produce standardized bibliographies, and store readings in a single interface. Tufts provides a guide for getting started. Zotero will make your life easier far beyond this class, and the earlier you start using it, the better.
By week 4 of the course, if you have…
… I will give you 10 points (1% of your overall grade).
Tufts University values the diversity of our body of students, staff, and faculty and recognizes the important contribution each student makes to our unique community. Tufts is committed to providing equal access and support to all qualified students through the provision of reasonable accommodations so that each student may fully participate in the Tufts experience. If a student has a disability that requires reasonable accommodations, they should please contact the StAAR Center (formerly Student Accessibility Services) at StaarCenter@tufts.edu or 617-627-4539 to make an appointment with an accessibility representative to determine appropriate accommodations. Please be aware that accommodations cannot be enacted retroactively, making timeliness a critical aspect for their provision.
Our semester breaks down into three “Parts.” During Part I (weeks 1-4), we’ll pick up the fundamentals of geospatial humanities. During Part II (weeks 5-9), the rubber meets the road as we experiment with various technical and analytical approaches to “doing” the geospatial humanities. During Part III (weeks 10-15), we pivot towards applying these approaches to specific areas of study, including your own. Both the schedule and its weekly themes are subject to change.
While this is not imperative, I recommend trying, to the extent that you are able, to complete course assignments in the order that they are listed under the “Due before class” bullet.
January 23 • Introductions • What is our subject?
Week 1: Defining “geospatial humanities”; critical cartography; kinds of maps; “x” GIS; mapping with purpose.
January 30 • Distortion • Squashing globes and bending lines
Week 2: Geographic and projected coordinate systems; scale; projecting XY data; tile pyramids.
February 6 • Data • Cartographic ethics
Week 3: Evaluating data & sources; data classification; understanding vector & raster models; situated knowledge & strong objectivity; querying; logical operators; sample curation.
February 13 • Design I • Aesthetics & politics in mapping
Week 4: Basic color theory; choropleth mapping; layer blending; text on maps; basemaps.
February 20 • Archives I • Contingencies of counting people
Week 5: Census data; table joins; (limitations of) the census; the modifiable areal unit problem.
February 27 • Analysis I • Spatial research questions
Week 6: Spatial joins; vector proximity analysis; layer blending; field calculation; boolean logic; bivariate maps; ArcGIS online.
March 5 • Archives II • Breathing new life into old maps
Week 7: Raster data structure; digitization; georeferencing; feature extraction; reprojecting maps & data.
March 12 • Analysis II • Pixelated places
Week 8: (Re)sampling; raster analysis; map algebra; spatial statistics; kernel density; vector-raster transformations; cost-path analysis; interpolation; spatial databases.
March 19 • Mandatory relaxation • Spring break
Week 9: No class
March 26 • Archives III • Text
Week 10: Natural language processing (NLP); applied historical gazetteers; machines reading maps.
April 2 • Analysis III • Archaeology
Week 11: Map algebra; zonal statistics; cost-path analysis; suitability analysis; deriving raster from vector and vice versa.
April 9 • Design II • Libraries
Week 12: Bivariate maps; small multiples; change detection; spatial autocorrelation; icons and iconography.
April 16 • Beyond • Whither “GIS?”
Week 13: Maps and mapping “beyond” GIS; inductive visualization.
April 23 • Open Lab
Week 14: That’s it! Open lab.
April 30 • Reading period
Week 15: No class.
May 7 • Final project due
Finals week: Submit final project on Canvas by 11:59pm on Tuesday, May 7.
May 8 • GIS Expo
Finals week: Optionally attend the GIS Expo for 10 points extra credit (1% of overall grade) or exhibit your work for 25 points extra credit (2.5% overall grade).