COURSE

Historians are most accustomed to dealing with maps as topographical or political descriptions, but maps can be read as evidence in their own right. This course sets out to accomplish three goals: to introduce students to maps as historical evidence, to impart the skills to make a reasonably sophisticated interactive map, and to experiment with the application of GIS data to historical visualization.

The course will begin by rethinking maps (loosely defined as any spatial arrangement), proceed to examining maps as evidence, and will extend its inquiry to analyzing how maps can be used on the Web. It will carry on by ferreting out maps suitable for digital adaptation and thence to creating a well-designed map in a vector-based application (Illustrator/Flash). The course will then turn to a vector authoring program (Flash) to add interactivity or animation to the map. Finally, the course will include a brief introduction to GIS and historical research.

This course is designed for students in either traditional or applied tracks (New Media) in the history graduate program or advanced undergraduates. Graduate students, for example, who contemplate using maps in their dissertation work will find the course extremely helpful. Although the course has a heavy computer component, it is intended for those with intermediate computer skills and assumes no prior knowledge of vector software. Students who have completed Clio 2 (HIST 697-Creating History in New Media) or who possess a solid computer background (the ability to build a web page and edit an image) will find their skills equal to the demands of the course.

BOOKS

The texts (of one kind or another) serve two purposes: 1) to provide you with the background in several areas that might be relatively unfamiliar to historians; and 2) to augment your technical, reference library. We will discuss some of the books briefly, some in depth, and some not at all, but they all should be read either in toto or in small bites, depending on the text. All the books are available at the campus bookstore

TYPEPAD

You are required to obtain a Plus-level subscription to Typepad, an online blogging service. All of your projects will be posted to your Typepad blog. The cost is $8.95 per month or roughly $15.00 for the summer session (the cost of a trade paperback). The best thing to do is sign up for a free trial; this will furnish you with a month's free service. At the end of the term, you can cancel your subscription. Or, you may discover that you like blogging so much that you retain your subscription. The reasons for making the blog a part of the course are two: its photo album capability and its ease of use. It also furnishes the class with a “web presence” without spending time with web editing software. (We’ll have enough software challenges without coping with web design and construction.)

Alternatively, you can obtain the Movable Type software. (GMU has a license.) It is free, but the installation of the software is challenging and you will need to contact the IT folks here at GMU to arrange installation. I do not do tech support for Movable Type. Six Apart, the company that created Movable Type will install the application for you for a $40.00 fee, but you will need to arrange to have CGI and MySQL in place on your ISP. Be aware that most free web page areas do not support CGI or MySQL or charge extra. I do not recommend this option unless you have some solid computer skills and access to a sophisticated ISP, but there may some in the class who can avail themselves of this option. I am aware that there are “free” blogging applications available, but they come with the price of advertising, and the course is not a commercial venue. You are, of course free to use any blogging application that suits you, but it should have photo album capability and no, I repeat, no advertising.