Week 4 (Feb 6, 8):

Tuesday: Creating Thematic Maps in ArcGIS: I

Study Guide:

Read the two articles above and consider how GIS and Skinner’s regional system model are combined and applied to the study of Chinese religious history.

Today’s presenters: Rachel (on Protass’s “Toward a Spatial History of Chan”) and Ben (on Ryavec’s “A Core-Periphery GIS Model of the Historical Growth and Spread of Islam in China”).


Thursday Creating Thematic Maps in Desktop ArcGIS: II

  • Learning Objectives:
    • Use joins, calculations, and other features in ArcGIS
    • Understand the issue of “rhetorical honesty”
    • Preparing maps for publication
  •  Readings:

Study Guide:

Drawing on David Staley, Theibault makes a distinction between two different uses of visualizations: as a means of quickly identifying patterns and as a way to make an argument or craft a narrative. These two aspects of visualization (as a tool of analysis and as a tool of communication) are closely related. Today’s class will focus mostly on practical skills with ArcGIS, but we will also reflect critically on using visualizations to construct multimodal arguments and narratives.

  • Read Theibault’s “Visualizations and Historical Arguments” and consider: What qualities should a visualization have to make effective arguments?
  • Theibault speaks of the issue of “rhetorical honesty.” Read Monmonier’s “Lying with Maps” and explore the assigned websites. Explain what “rhetorical honesty” means in mapping. Reflect on how we should use visualizations in constructing an argument.