GEO 340/440: Places, Humanities, and Geographic Information Systems

Autumn Quarter 2015-2016 | Department of Geography | DePaul University

1. Course Information

Location: Schmitt Academic Center 224 (GIS Lab) in the Lincoln Park Campus

Time: Tue/Thurs 4:20-5:50 pm

Instructor: Sungsoon Hwang (shwang9@depaul.edu; 773-325-8668; gis.depaul.edu/shwang; 990 W Fullerton Room# 4513)

Office hour: Tue/Thurs 2-3:30 and by appointment

2. Course Description

Human experience is unfolded in particular time and place. GIS, a computer system for solving location problems, can help reveal contexts of human condition, and offer a new way of framing questions in humanities by putting subject matter in spatial (and temporal) dimension. GIS can also diversify the ways in which subject matter is investigated, and findings are interpreted through multiple representations of the phenomenon under study. Further, GIS can facilitate interdisciplinary inquiry crucial to Digital Humanities projects because data from multidisciplinary fields can be integrated through geographic references in GIS and be presented to diverse audience in a cognitively appealing manner.  

In this course students will develop proficiency in handling spatial data for digital humanities using GIS. Students will learn concepts and techniques for geocoding, database management, cartographic visualization, and spatial analysis relevant to humanities subject. Students will be able to discern importance of places and spatial technologies in the Digital Humanities (DH).

The course will focus on learning techniques for creating geospatial data and making maps from sources related to humanities subject using freeware GIS tools, mostly Quantum GIS (or QGIS in short). The course also reviews how GIS have been used in DH projects, and what efforts have been made in GIS to accommodate its stereotypical functionality to DH projects—namely qualitative GIS and historical (temporal) GIS. The class is conducted through lecture, discussion, and hands-on activities.  

3. Learning Goals

• Discern potential and challenges of GIS for designing and implementing DH projects
• Understand concepts related to coordinate reference systems used in GIS
• Create geospatial data by employing different techniques for GIS data collection
• Conduct basic spatial analysis (query, buffering, overlay) using GIS
• Make various types of thematic maps using GIS
• Explore how to address challenges with representing qualitative and temporal data in GIS

4. Text and Required Materials

• Shellito (2014) Introduction to Geospatial Technologies (the 2nd Edition)—required text available at the college bookstore
• Other readings are provided as pdf files on D2L
• USB drive with minimum 4 GB

5. Tentative Schedules* and Outlines of Topic  

* The schedule is subject to change as the class progresses

References for readings

DH GIS project http://anterotesis.com/wordpress/mapping-resources/dh-gis-projects/

Bodenhamer, D. J., & Harris, T. M. (2010). The spatial humanities: GIS and the future of humanities scholarship. Indiana University Press.

·   Ch7 Mapping texts

·   Ch4 Exploiting time and space: a challenge for GIS in the Digital Humanities

·   Ch5 Qualitative GIS and emergent semantics

·   Ch1 Turning toward place space and time

·   Ch2 The potential of spatial humanities

Goodchild, M. F., & Janelle, D. G. (2010). Toward critical spatial thinking in the social sciences and humanities. GeoJournal, 75(1), 3-13.

Kraak and Ormeling. (2009). Mapping time In: Cartography: Visualization of Spatial Data. Prentice Hall: 152-158

Klettner, S., Huang, H., Schmidt, M., & Gartner, G. (2013). Crowdsourcing affective responses to space. Kartographische Nachrichten, 2(3), 66-72.

6. Grading Components

Grading scale: A 93-100; A- 90-92.99; B+ 87-90; B 83-86.99; B- 80-82.99; C+ 77-80; C 73-76.99; C- 70-72.99; D 50-69.99; F 0-49.99  

Lab activities: there are 13 activities to be held in the class following lecture and discussion. With those activities, you will learn GIS techniques for tasks you would need to perform to conduct DH project that uses geospatial data of some kind. Most of lab activities will be done using QGIS 2.8.2. Although activities are expected to be completed in the class, you will be asked to complete remaining part of activities at home or in other locations where QGIS is installed if you didn’t finish them on time although a majority finished them. Activities are due in one week after the lab is handed out unless noted otherwise. Submit the work in a MS-Word file that answers questions in the lab handout on designated D2L dropbox folders. Each activity is worth 3 points, totaling up to 39 points. Some lab activities can be cancelled if the class doesn’t progress as scheduled.

Exam: two exams--midterm on 10/8 (week 5) and final 11/12 (week 10)--will be held in the class. Exams are closed-book, non-comprehensive, and written tests. GIS skills (how to use QGIS) are not tested.

Project: you need to propose digital humanities project that explores a theme of interest in geographic perspectives. The proposed project should meet the following minimum requirements depending on the level of a course you’re taking.

Proposal is due on 10/27 11:59 pm (week 7) on D2L. Make a 10-min presentation on 11/17 on the last day of the class (week 10), and submit a paper by 11/19 11:59 pm on D2L during an exam week (week 11). Proposal is worth 5 points, and paper is worth 20 points. Detailed guidelines will be provided later in the class.

Map of the Month: improve upon a map picked from the paper you submitted and write an abstract to describe findings specific to the map along with a professional-quality map to be considered for submission to DePaul Map of the Month http://via.library.depaul.edu/mom/. MOM is due 11/23 11:59 pm on D2L (Monday) during an exam week (week 11). Detailed guidelines will be provided later.

Participations: participation score will be assigned according to the criteria below

·    A (9-10) = Student is present in all or nearly class meetings, and prepared, at all times, to respond to questions.  Student is an active participant in and out of class, and stays on task in class-time activities.

·    B (8-9) = Student participates as above, 75% of the time.

·    C (6.5-8) = Student does not volunteer comments; responses demonstrate vague familiarity with course readings. Student is a passive participant in and out of class, and/or does not stay on task during class-time activities.

·    D (5-6.5) = Student never volunteers, cannot respond to direct questions, keeps silent during class discussions and is unable to summarize readings if asked.

·    F (0-5) = Student misses many class sessions and/or sits silently in classes when present, or is disruptive and non-participatory in the classroom.

The Houk Memorial Public Lecture in Geography: this year Mona Domosh, PhD, professor of geography at Dartmouth University and president of the Association of American Geographers will give a lecture on "From the U.S. South to the Global South: Practicing Development at Home" on October 2 (Friday) 10:45-11:45 am at Cortelyou Commons (2324 N. Fremont St. Chicago). Lunch buffet will follow. You are required to attend this event.

7. Detailed Plan of the Class

Week 1: GIS and Digital Humanities

Before the class on 9/15, read chapter 1 of the text (It’s a Geospatial World Out There) and Goodchild & Janelle (2010) (Toward critical spatial thinking in the social sciences and humanities) posted on D2L under Readings, and browse DH GIS projects on the website: http://anterotesis.com/wordpress/mapping-resources/dh-gis-projects/

In this unit, we will discuss what GIS is, how GIS has been used in a real-world setting, how GIS has been applied to DH projects, and potential of GIS and spatial thinking in enriching theory and practice of DH.

Lab 1 on 9/15 introduces Google Earth to get you familiar with basic GIS functionality. You will do 1.1 Geospatial Lab Application (Introduction to Geospatial Concepts and Google Earth) at p. 19 - 32 of the text in the class. Google Earth is installed in GIS Lab and other locations at DePaul campus. Google Earth can be downloaded and installed for free in your home computer as well.

Week 2: Coordinate reference system

Read chapter 2 (Where in the Geospatial World Are You?) of the text before the class on 9/17. Unlike other typical types of information systems, GIS specializes in handling geospatial data or location-based data. By geospatial data, it is meant that location can be located somewhere on the Earth’s surface. This is possible because geospatial data is referenced to universally recognized coordinate systems. In many cases, inability to work with geospatial data comes from poor understanding of concepts related to coordinate systems.

In this unit, you will learn concepts you need to grasp to understand coordinate reference system (CRS), that is, datum and map projection. You will also learn commonly used CRS, namely Latitude & Longitude (aka. Geographic Coordinate System), Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM), and State Plane Coordinate (SPC) Systems.

Lab 2 on 9/17 exposes you to the concept of coordinates and position measurement in Google Earth. You will do 2.1 Geospatial Lab Application (Coordinates and Position Measurements) at p. 52-57 of the text in the class.

With Lab 3 on 9/22, you will learn how to collect waypoint data with GPS receivers. This is an outdoor activity. We will use Garmin eTrex (GPS receiver) for collecting coordinate values of some point of interests (POIs) in the Lincoln Park Campus, and will use DNRGPS (freeware developed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources) to import GPS data into GIS. You can download DNRGPS from http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/DNRGPS/DNRGPS.html.

Week 3: Work with geospatial data

Read chapter 5 (Working with Digital Geospatial Data and GIS) of the text before the class on 9/24.

You may have wondered where you can get geospatial data, and how to view geospatial data. In this unit, you will learn just that. In this class, you will learn Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) GIS, Quantum GIS (QGIS), that has become increasingly popular within and beyond GIS community.

Lab 4 on 9/24 introduces QGIS, and teaches you how to add, browse, and display geospatial data in QGIS. You will do 5.1 Geospatial Lab Application (GIS Introduction: QGIS Version) at p. 130-142 in the text.

With Lab 5 on 9/29, you will learn how to turn text data with XY coordinates into geospatial data for making point maps in QGIS.

Week 4-5: Create geospatial data

Read chapter 3 (Getting Your Data to Match the Map) of the text before the class on 10/1. There will be the Houk Memorial Public Lecture in Geography on 10/2 (Friday) 10:45-11:45 am at Cortelyou Commons (2324 N. Fremont St) followed by buffet lunch. I will circulate a signup sheet on site to check your attendance. Midterm will be held on 10/8 (Week 5). The midterm covers anything we discussed before the midterm. Following the midterm, read Bodenhamer & Harris chapter 7 (Mapping Texts) before the class on 10/13.

So far we have worked with existing geospatial data (that is, geospatial data is provided to you). Many DH projects, however, require you to create your own geospatial data from disparate sources, such as paper maps, images, and texts. In this unit, you will learn how to georeference images, digitize vector data over orthoimages (images with uniform scale like maps), and geocode text data (plot locations on the map). This will enable you to turn data that are not geographically referenced or/and are not well structured, to geospatial data ready for GIS analysis and mapping.

Lab 6 on 10/1 will teach you how to georeference scanned images of cartographic maps. You need to use coordinate transformation tools to match source data with other geospatial data since source data are not referenced to universally recognized CRS.

You will learn to digitize vector data over orthoimages (that are already geographically referenced) through Lab 7 on 10/6.

You will also learn how to turn textual description of location into geospatial data using address geocoding tools and gazetteer search tools (available as QGIS plugins) with Lab 8 on 10/13 after the midterm.

Week 6: Spatial analysis

Read chapter 6 (Using GIS for Spatial Analysis) of the text before the class on 10/15.

In this unit, you learn basic spatial analysis techniques, including attribute query, spatial query, buffer, overlay, and map algebra.

Lab 9 on 10/15 will teach abovementioned techniques in QGIS. You will do 6.1 Geospatial Lab Application (GIS Spatial Analysis: QGIS Version) at p. 177-187 in the text.

We will discuss project proposal on 10/20. You will be asked to bring pre-proposal draft to the class.

Week 7: Map-making

Read chapter 7 (Using GIS to Make a Map) of the text before the class on 10/22.

In this unit, we will discuss types of maps you can make with GIS tools, what design elements to be included in maps, and color use.

Lab 10 on 10/22 will teach you how to compose maps in QGIS. You will do 7.1 Geospatial Lab Application (GIS Layouts: QGIS Version) at p. 215-228) in the text.

On 10/27, we will have one-on-one hands-on session to address concerns over project proposal. You will be asked to bring (some of) data you’re planning to use for the proposed project. 

Week 8: Temporal & Qualitative GIS and Digital Humanities

Read Kraak & Ormeling (2009) (Mapping Time) and Bodenhamer & Harris chapter 4 (Exploiting time and space: a challenge for GIS in the Digital Humanities) before the class on 10/29.

In this unit (temporal GIS and DH), we will discuss options for representing and mapping time in GIS, and you learn to create maps from temporal data through Lab 11.

Read Bodenhamer & Harris chapter 5 (Qualitative GIS and emergent semantics) and Klettner et al (2013) (Crowdsourcing affective responses to space) before the class on 11/3.

In this unit (qualitative GIS and DH), we will discuss options for representing and mapping qualitative data in GIS, and learn to create maps from qualitative data through Lab 12.

Week 9: Towards spatial humanities

After reading chapter 1 (Turning toward place, space, and time) and chapter 2 (The potential of spatial humanities) of Bodenhamer & Harris (2010), we will have discussion on challenges and potential of GIS in digital humanities to conclude the class. After the discussion, you will learn how to publish maps online using Google Map and ArcGIS Online on 11/5.

You will be given time to work on project on 10/29 (30 min.), 11/3 (30 min.), 11/5 (30 min.), and 11/10 (an hour and half). Then you will take final exam on 11/12 (week 10). Prepare presentation on 11/17 on the last day of the class. We will not get together in the classroom during an exam week. Just be sure to submit a paper by 11/19 (Thursday) and a Map of the Month by 11/23 (Monday) on D2L during an exam week.

8. Miscellaneous

Late Work Policy: Late work can be accepted with the reduction of 20% of the grade per day being late. For instance, if you turn in labs 5 days after due dates, no points will be granted.

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism: Academic honesty and integrity are expected at all times. Academic dishonesty, such as cheating or copying during exams, will be punished severely. Plagiarism – using someone else’s work without acknowledgment and, therefore, presenting their ideas or quotations as your own work – is strictly forbidden. DePaul University officials will be informed of any instance of academic dishonesty and notification will be placed in your file. Please read the DePaul Academic Integrity Resources page (http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu/Resources/index.html) for definitions and explanations of plagiarism and the University’s Academic Integrity expectations for students. Cutting and pasting text taken directly from a web-site without appropriate referencing and quotation marks is plagiarism and is forbidden. Submitting work that has any part cut and pasted directly from the internet is grounds for an automatic grade of zero.

Accommodations: Any student who requires assistance is asked to contact the University’s Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) (Phone 773/325-1677, TTY 773/325-7296, Fax 773/325-7396,http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/studentswithdisabilities).They will be able to assist both student and faculty. If you have a condition that requires accommodation from the Productive Learning Strategies program (PLuS Program) please contact them at the Student Center room 370 (Phone 773/3251677 or online:  http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/plus/

University Center for Writing-Based Learning: Collaborates with writers from all disciplines, backgrounds, levels of expertise, and roles within the University community. Their goal is to help develop better writers along with better writing and reflection through continual revision. If you need assistance with writing assignments, they can be contacted at: 773.325.4272 (LPC) or wcenter@depaul.edu

Department of Geography Learning Goals

Courses in the Department of Geography teach students—GEO 340/440 addresses goals #1, 5, and 7: 

1.  Understand spatial patterns and processes of modification of the Earth’s physical and cultural landscapes

       (a) As social constructions.

(b) As systems that link the Earth with human society in interdependent, dialectical   relationships, and

(c) Through mapping and visualization.

 2.  Understand the concept of scale as a spatial phenomenon that ties the local, the regional, the national, the transnational, and the global in a system of interaction. 

3.  Understand the phenomenology of the discipline of Geography—most importantly,   “space”, "place", "landscape," "region," and "location". 

4.  Distinguish that spaces, places, and so on, may have both objective and subjective/symbolic dimensions. 

5.  Develop research and writing competences that would allow you to:

(a) Formulate a cogent research question about the spatial character of a physical, socio-cultural, or environment-societal phenomenon,

       (b) Write about it in ways that reflect analytical and critical thinking, and

(c) Ethical concern over social and environmental justice, consistent with the University’s social mission. 

6.  Engage competently in qualitative and quantitative spatial analysis, and with exercises that are concerned with explaining spatial regularities (for example, the spatial calculus behind the location of retail commerce in Chicago, or transnational flows of capital). 

7.  Learn the basic utility and use competently one or more of the information technologies that are now redefining the logistical limits of spatial analysis:  geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing. 

8.  Achieve greater general knowledge of the world, its regions, its physical systems, its cultures, and political-territorial divisions.