The Essentials
v 1.0
[Essentials] [Schedule] [Resources + Logistics]
Section Outline
COURSE INFO
Intro to Critical Spatial Media: Beyond the Anthropocene
ENST 23517 / ARCH 23517 / DIGS 23517 / ARTV 20665 / MAAD 13517 University of Chicago | Spring Quarter 2022
Time + Location
T/Th 2–3:20, LOGAN 028 [T] + WALKER 303 [Th]
Course Websites
Instructors
Alexander Arroyo | Office Hours T/Th 3:45–4:45 or by appointment
Grga Basic|Office Hours W 9:30–11:30 or by appointment
COURSE OVERVIEW + OBJECTIVES
This course introduces critical theories and techniques for visualizing interconnected transformations of urban, environmental, and planetary systems amidst the pressures of climate change, urbanization, and global economies of capitalism. To do so we will ask a key pair of entangled questions: how does the way we theorize these transformations change the ways we envision their dynamics and effects? Conversely, how do the ways we visualize these transformations mediate how we theorize them?
In exploring these questions, weekly lectures and discussion will introduce major themes and theoretical debates, paired with hands-on lab tutorials exploring a selection of methods in conventional and experimental geographic visualization. Thematically, the course will be organized around critical interpretations of the Anthropocene, a concept designating the “human-activity-induced geological time unit” (Lewis & Maslin, 2015) in which anthropogenic activities are recognized as the dominant force of planetary climatic and ecological change. We will present these interpretations through modules structured around different conceptual paradigms and alternative epochal designations:
I. Anthropocene/Anthropo(s)cenes
II. Technocene
III. Urbanocene
IV. Capitalocene
V. Plantationocene
VI. Pyrocene
Through weekly assignments and lab exercises, a group “constellation” of related epochs, and a final, synthetic epochal “atlas,” we will move from critically analyzing prevalent theoretical frameworks, geospatial data, and associated visualization techniques to creatively visualizing critical alternatives. We’ll learn how to construct visual narratives through a variety of spatial media (e.g. maps, diagrams, visual timelines), scales (e.g. bodies, neighborhoods, landscapes, the planetary), and techniques/platforms (e.g. GIS, web mapping, basic programming language tools, and vector/raster visualization programs).
FORMAT
This is a thinking and/about/through making course. That means we’ll be doing more conventional critical theoretic work around academic texts alongside critical analysis and interpretation of a variety of spatial media, from geospatial data sets to creative forms and techniques of visual representation.
To that end, class will be divided into two weekly sessions: a lecture/discussion and instructional labs. The two weekly sessions will reinforce each other, but think about them like musical counterpoint: they’ll do different kinds of work as part of the whole, but you’ll need both to get the full, integrative experience.
During lecture + discussion, we’ll think through the core concepts, critical contextualizations, and counter-arguments for that week’s epochal theme, e.g., the Anthropocene. This will include a focus on particular spatial media artifacts, genres, techniques, etc., which will set up our lab session.
Labs will primarily focus on deconstructing and reconstructing a drawing, diagram, map, or other visualization presented in lecture. Outside of class time, you’ll be asked to complete weekly readings, short assignments, and exercises with spatial media. You will post your work using two online media-sharing platforms, Are.na and Medium (more on these in [Resources & Logistics]).
There will be a combination of collective and individual work, both of which are essential for the midterm and final projects. You will find a summary of deliverables for this work in the next section, [Deliverables].
Group Work
Early on in the course, you will be asked to choose an epoch of interest. You will be grouped with two or three classmates and tasked with understanding how your set of epochs intersect and diverge according to a number of criteria — theoretical, representational, methodological, etc. You will be tasked with creating a collective representation of the particular dimensions, interpretations, and critical relations between your set of alternative “Anthropo(s)cenes.” Insofar as you’ll be exploring how to diagram the ways your respective epochs hang together and pull apart, we’ll call this representation an Epochal Constellation. The midterm will involve two parts:
- presenting/performing a representative “scene” — i.e., a fictional narrative — from the world your unique constellation creates, in a short “pitch” format.
- collecting and publishing (via the class zine on Medium) a representative set of materials combining found media, reading quotes and terms with original text, maps, and drawings that together sketch out the key elements of your group’s constellation.
Individual Work
In parallel with the collective track of work described above, you will post a set of materials to Are.na each week, including lab work in progress (WIP) and reading-related media, quotes, and key terms. This individual work will directly support and feed into your midterm and final projects.
You will also begin to develop deeper individualized interest in some aspect of your chosen epoch OR group constellation. This will culminate in a final, synthetic project — an Epochal Atlas — for which you’ll have a set of individual media deliverables to complete. The final will also have two parts, mirroring the EC:
- presenting/performing a “navigational chart” through your EA that takes on a particular point of view
- making and publishing (via the class zine on Medium) a set of visual media and short explanatory texts that comprise your EA
DELIVERABLES
Deliverables for the course are the following:
A. Weekly posts to Are.na {M#} {Q#} {G#} {L#}
For all blocks, follow these basic conventions:
Title all your blocks using the appropriate tag in curly brackets + the week ##. It should look like this: {M01} Descriptive Title. Make sure to retitle your block from the default given by Are.na. That means
The block naming convention is very simple: the block code in { } followed by the week in ##, e.g. {M01}, then a descriptive title. The title should appropriately describe and cite the content for that channel, e.g.:
{M01}‘Point of Life’ Diagram, from Aït-Touati et al. 2019{Q02} Lewis & Maslin 2015, p.171{G01} Critical Spatial Media
Use author-date Chicago citation style for {M} media and {Q} quote blocks; for the {G} glossary block, just use the glossary term.
In the description, always include a full bibliographic note (also Chicago) in for all three block types, and make sure to include a link or page # when appropriate.
You should post all reading response blocks by 9 am on Tuesday.
Reading response blocks
{M}: {M##} Descriptive Title
- Media artifact w/ metadata or citation in the block description and brief statement of why you’ve decided to post it.
- Your media artifact should be something of interest related to the readings/theme for that week. It could be a dataset, an image, a map, or other form of spatial media, art practice, etc. It should come from a published, exhibited, or otherwise credible source; these may include exhibitions, books, photographs, atlases, spatial data products, illustrations, etc. While online publishing platforms are fine, this should not include Google Image Search, Wikipedia, Pinterest, etc. Always trace the source back to the author, creator, event, etc.
- A quick tip: Are.na is a great place to explore interesting media! Even if you find something through Are.na, you are still always required to properly cite and source the original image; you should not simply repost another Are.na user’s block, given that our standards for citation/sourcing are more stringent than how others use Are.na.
{Q}: {Q##} Descriptive Title
- Choose a quote (or a few) that represent some key concept, controversy, debate, theory, or otherwise interesting and important passage from the key OR auxiliary readings.
- Ask a critical follow up question that YOU want to ask; this may be a simple clarification or contextual question or a deeper probe into the arguments. Just make sure it reflects your particular reading and point of view; it shouldn’t be framed as a “reading comprehension” or exam-style question.
- Always make sure to include the page # and full citation for the quote.
{G}: {G##} Term
- Any key term from a reading, with citation from that text.
- If you use a definition from elsewhere (e.g., an online dictionary), make sure to cite that too.
Lab WIP block {L#} [due every Thursday @ 9am]
- A simple visualization (either in a specified file format or screenshot) from the week’s lab exercise, with a very short (< 300 words) textual accompaniment. Each lab will require a slightly different written response that asks you to describe, explain, and/or reflect on the data, technique, and workflow.
B. Project presentations {P01} {P02}
- {P01} Midterm “pitch” on Epochal Constellation [EC]
- {P02} Final “navigational” presentation of Epochal Atlas
C. Medium publications {EC} {EA}
{EC} Epochal Constellation [due Friday, 5/06 end of day]
- Midterm group publication of representative EC materials to class zine
{EA} Epochal Atlas [due date TBD]
- Final individual OR group publication of EA to class zine
GRADING
At a glance:
Attendance + Participation: 15%
Weekly Assignments + Labs: 30%
Presentations: 15%
Publications: 40%
Grading breakdown:
Attendance: 10%
Participation: 5%
- Informal presentation/discussion of Are.na posts
Weekly posts to Are.na: 15%
- {M}: 5%
- {Q}: 5%
- {G}: 5%
Weekly Lab exercises {L}: 15%
- Completion of lab objectives: 10%
- Demonstration of effort (troubleshooting, detail, experimentation, etc): 5%
Project presentations: 15%
- {P01}: 7.5%
- {P02}: 7.5%
Medium publications: 40%
- {EC}: 15%
- {EA}: 25%
