Download a PDF of this project sheet here.Please note: If changes are made to the schedule, the PDF may not reflect those changes.
See examples of student work from last year here.
January 12 – February 16 | 5 weeks | Research Methodology: Archival Analysis (Quantitative) | Mapping Methodology: Spatio-Temporal Maps
In this first map series, you will work in cross-disciplinary teams to map the development of the city through 5 topical lenses (natural history, socio-cultural history, economic history, political history, and physical development). Through this deep dive into Raleigh’s history, you will create a series of maps that look at discrete components of the city at 4 difference scales (Raleigh’s original city limits, Raleigh’s current boundaries, Wake County and the Triangle) and over the time period of Raleigh’s establishment through the present (1792 – 2018). Through these iterations, you will pay special attention to how scale informs and transforms the message of the map through altering the resolution and visible measurements of the systems depicted. This first series of maps and timelines will be used as a common resource to draw upon and build future maps throughout the semester.
The size of your maps should be 16” x 13.5” landscape but should be able to be scaled up to 32” x 27”. We will be supplying a template for you to import your maps in to. Plan to work in Illustrator so these maps can be scaled up.
The four scales you will be working at are:
- Raleigh’s Original City Limits: 1 : 3,000 (1 : 6000 for maps at 50%)
- Raleigh’s Current Boundaries: 1 : 50,000 (1 : 100,000 for maps at 50%)
- Wake County: 1 : 100,000 (1 : 200,000 for maps at 50%)
- Triangle: 1: 160,000 (1 : 320,000 for maps at 50%)
We ask that as you focus your study of the city through your topical lens that you pay special attention to which historical narratives are celebrated or “marked” versus which ones are hidden or possibly erased. Raleigh hosts many historic monuments (from formal statues to street names) which memorialize a spectrum of events, places, and people commemorating important themes in our local, regional, and national heritage. Through this course and its exhibition we hope to engage in the contemporary national debate on memorialization and evolving socio-cultural values by opening up questions on how different types of memorialization in Raleigh have come to be and how they frame our understanding of our city’s past, present, and future.
Learning Objectives:
- Give students a birds eye view of the complex socio-cultural, political, racial, and economic forces at play in the development of Raleigh;
- Encourage pattern-finding and initial conclusions based on those patterns;
- Make connections between socio-culture shifts and the physical development of Raleigh;
- Draw initial conclusions about what was driving early development;
- Make critical comparisons between static and temporal data;
- Learn basic elements of mapping through GIS and visual communication;
- Understand the fundamentals of archival research;
- Identify correlation and speculate on causation to inform future research questions.
Assignment Schedule
January 12: Introduction to class
- Overview of Raleigh History
- Deep Dive into initial data
- Students choose initial topical lens and groups
- Introduce Archival Map resources
- GIS Basics Tutorial (Brooks 203C) 11:30 – 1:00.
- Read for Jan 19:
- Corner, J. The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention. In Mappings (pp. 213-252).
- Reid Murray, E. v01, Settlement Period, The County’s Birth, Revolution and Evolution (p18-73) (divide among team members);
- Mobley, J. Raleigh, A Brief History (entire book) (divide among team members);
- Supplemental Reading: Perkins, D. The New Capital (p3-13)
Resource: GIS Basic Tutorial (from 2016) GIS Basics Tutorial Video; GIS Basics Tutorial and Presentation (from 2018)
January 17: GIS Tutorial 2: 203D 6-8pm (rescheduled for January 22)
January 19: Mapping and Design Research
- Due: Data Dump / Rough Digital Maps; list of questions and gaps for additional research
- Identify emerging research topic / question, for example:
- economy: specific demographic trends, industrial drivers, causes for periods of growth and decline
- socio-cultural: racial demographics, establishment of museums, educational infrastructure, cultural anchors (churches, schools, etc) and their names
- Natural history: hydrology, parks, preservation efforts, naming of natural places/ waterways/plant species/etc.
- Physical Development: infrastructure (roads, railroads, trolley electricity, sewer/water, telecommunications, etc.), towns/cities, neighborhoods
- Politics: major policies that have affected the development of Raleigh (i.e. redline banking policies), political “heros” memorialized, naming of state buildings, naming of roads, initial planning and siting of Raleigh, district boundaries, political trends overtime, shifts in political power, evolving municipal and state government structures
- Reading discussion: Critical cartography and design research
- “Desk crits” of maps within groups
- Read for Jan 26:
- Supplemental Reading:
- Lecture Resource: Jeff Essic, Data Librarian on Data Resources
Please Note: This is an abbreviated version of the original tutorial since we had some technical difficulties. If you have questions, please contact Aline at ademelo@ncsu.edu
January 26: Making Observations: Visible and Invisible Data
- Due: Refined Geographic Maps (ideally now exported from GIS); list of questions and gaps for additional research
- Class critique of individual research maps: How does the scale of the data influence the argument of the map?
- Read for Feb. 2:
- Supplemental Reading:
- Perkins, D. The New Capital: readings according to thematic lens.
- Reid Murray, E. V01 and V02: readings assigned according to thematic lens
January 29: 6:00 – 8:00 GIS Workshop 03: Structuring Census Data for ARCGis
February 02: Spatio-Temporal Data
- Due: Geographic + Temporal Maps (digital)
- Discussion: Maps as a persuasion of reality
- Scaler Series and timeline; Discuss intersections in small groups
- Illustrator Basics Tutorial
- InDesign Template Basics
- Illustrator Tutorial: Illustrator Map Basics Sheet (from 2016)
February 09: 75% Final Review of Maps (Digital + Printed)
- Identify which map will be blown up with the timeline in the template. Include proposals for how you might make that map more detailed.
- Draft of Timeline (explore google spreadsheet timeline for some basic/shared events)
- Updated Maps (75% review):
- Have all maps into Illustrator
- Be working within assigned color swatches for your theme
- Exploring how time / change is evident in your maps
Read for February 16
- Mereilles, Chapter 01: Hierarchical Structures
February 16:
- Questioning assumptions, truths and findings
- Updated Research Question/Overarching Topic and Titles for each of the 4 maps.
- Semi-Final review of printed maps for in depth discussion and critique; Overlay of research questions
- Have maps prepared by Wednesday February 21
Read for March 02:
March 02:
- Map Series 01 Final Review
Read/Prepare for March 16:
- Crouch and Pearce, Chapter 04: Research Methodologies.
- Crouch and Pearce, Chapter 08, Case Study Research, p 123-141.
- Refined Research Questions from Map Series 01
- Ideas for the topic/narrative to explore for Map Series 02
- Visual Studies of your network maps