I'd like to start by saying I love maps, they excite me and I could look at them all day. However the first time that I was told maps could have a bias I just about lost it. I, like most of the world that Harley was referring to, always accepted maps to be the truth, as is. There was no way that map could be manipulated or changed for certain values. Then I saw examples, and thought about representation and even heard the popular author John Greene discredit this. Needless to say, my Geography 101 professor successfully put my know it all freshmen self in my place. From there I always questioned maps a bit and thought about their potential bias. I cant say that I examined them too closely. I certainly never considered a Road Map to be an act of power like Harley references, but still I was aware. So when I read this quote, I definitely had to take some time to think.
"In modern Western society maps quickly became crucial to the maintenance of state power—to its boundaries, to its commerce, to its internal administration, to control of populations, and to its military strength. Mapping soon became the business of the state: cartography is early nationalized. The state guards its knowledge carefully: maps have been universally censored, kept secret and falsified. In all these cases maps are linked to what Foucault called the exercise of 'juridical power.' [75] The map becomes a 'juridical territory': it facilitates surveillance and control. Maps are still used to control our lives in innumerable ways. A mapless society, though we may take the map for granted, would now be politically unimaginable. All this is power with the help of maps. It is an external power, often centralized and exercised bureaucratically, imposed from above, and manifest in particular acts or phases of deliberate policy." Maps have created a social limit on society. In reality there is nothing in nature telling me that I have left Maryland and entered Virginia, except for the man made sign of course. I could wander into the Potomac, cross it and not even realize that it was the boarder between several states. Without Maps I would have no idea. Now as I run along side the C and O canal I am always aware that just across that medium sized river lies another state. This subconscious effect that maps and knowing my geography has had on me never truly dawned on me till reading these pieces. However, I can certainly see the point that they limit us. Maps tell us where we can and cannot go. Where one controls and where is forbidden. There certainly is some truth to the statement that a mapless society would be political chaos. Not that too much of that is related to the Digital aspect of maps- so lets try to hit that a bit. Number one, Rumsey's collection of maps was really cool. In the future I'm definitely going to spend some more time looking through them and more of what his project has to offer. Many of the pictorial graphs and different perspectives were very insightful and could provide some neat analysis into the subjects they covered. In terms of a digital project, it would be awesome to have a pictorial map that was interactive and when the user clicked on the area, it would provide many more options to learn and explore that area. Now that I actually processed what I just typed I realized we've seen many projects like that this year so that was quite silly. The end of the marking period is getting the best of me. Number two- Hyper Cities- What an awesome project! I have struggled using it, I think simply because I'm not overly comfortable with it, but just looking at the maps of Berlin and New York from various time periods is truly fascinating. I wasn't able to get the same beginning screen that they were in the intro video, but I would love to be able to look at Berlin throughout the 20th century and the impact that post WWII and the Cold War Had on it. This really is a great example of how adding that digital element to a map can make it much more useful and allow the user to interact with it in a way that they were not capable of before. To conclude, the first reading discussed the implication of mapping relying on computers so much now and how the art has somewhat disappeared. I think thats truly a shame. Granted it nice to be able to pull out my Iphone, look at my maps app and know that what I'm seeing is perfectly represented in front of me. The practicality of that is really awesome. But the kid that grew up in the middle of the woods, or that young man that loves to just get lost in a state park for 8 hours and come back to 25 texts asking if I'm alive makes me appreciate the unknown of the world. It must have been so cool and yet also completely terrifying to be Lewis and Clark or Columbus as they ventured off into the unknown. The map makers that worked with them may not have been 100% accurate with their maps, but they sure were authentic in experience. There certainly is quite a bit of value in that and I for one cant see to get quite AS excited about new advancements in mapping without thinking about the thrill of how we got here. I hope this was semi understandable. My brain was a bit fried when I knocked this out. Till next time, Adam
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Adam Rudy
3/2/16 HUM 560: Digital Humanities Dr. Angello “The American Yawp: Collaboration, Innovation and Simplification” For the better part of the last century there has been a constant for students pursuing higher education, high priced and often less than thrilling textbooks. Students often budget, boarder or even beg for the cheapest textbook price they can find as prices have simply skyrocketed. The American Yawp, a free online collaboratively built American history textbook, according to the creators Joseph Locke and Ben Wright, has made a herculean attempt to change what we have come to expect from college textbooks and their massive price tags. Locke, Wright and their incredible team of contributors have created an online text that is perfect for a survey course in American history. Their creation is an overview of American history from colonization through what they deem to be the recent past, which reaches as far as 2014. One of the many wonderful things about their resource is that it truly is a collaborative living source that is constantly being edited, changed and improved. The format is beautifully simple, yet serves the exact needs of its readers. Historians are notorious for wanting to argue about the nuances of the wording of a textbook. Professors, teachers and even recreational historians are often extremely frustrated by not being about to find a text that meets all of their exact needs. The American Yawp’s collaborative nature has found a way to solve that. Every viewer has the option to add comments or suggest changes to the narrative of American history that has been created. That comment is then reviewed by one of the many contributors to the resource and considered for alteration. Locke and Wright have given the reader a voice like they have never had before in any book, much less a college textbook. While Locke and Wright certainly would not take all the credit for the project, they are the chief editors and brains behind most of the operation. However, creating such a resource is not something that was simply created overnight. The sheer amount of work put into developing this incredible historical peace certainly makes one ponder their motivation for the project. Locke is a professor at the University of Houston Victoria and Wright is a professor at the University of Texas Dallas. Neither school is known for having students with extremely affluent backgrounds. Both Locke and Wright saw this as a way to both improve American History textbooks as well as help out their students. Locke comments on an Interview with the American Historical Association about the project, “Textbook prices are really a problem. Joe and I both teach at institutions where students come from non-affluent backgrounds and the opportunity to take a course without shelling out $300 in book costs . . . thats a big deal. This is why we wanted to do this project.” Later in the interview, they also told a story of a student crying when she found of the textbook was completely free. While publishers are probably dragging their feet at this new innovation, students all over the country are benefitting. They are benefiting not only from the financial consideration of the creators, but also the high quality of the work. The collaboration, the overall viewing and user experience, ability to edit, comment and interact with the material as well as the overall usability for students truly makes The American Yawp a one of a kind project. One of the things that makes this project so unique and such a great example of digital humanities is the massive amount of collaboration that went into and still occurs with the book. Sure, there are two main editors, but they have what seems like an army of highly qualified professionals behind them to support their work. At the bottom of every page of the website is a link to the contributors to the project. The list of contributors is well over one hundred people from a variety of institutions all over the country and even some that are international. It is a good thing they had such a team behind them because this project does appear to be too much for two people. Their whole process started by discussing topics they would typically cover in their survey courses of American history. Once that list was compiled they reached out to active scholars in the field with specific expertise. That list numbered contributors close to three hundred people. From there they had twenty seven chapter editors stitch together the feedback from the scholars they reached out too. However there was one catch. Locke and Wright did not want it to read like an encyclopedia. Instead they wanted their project to be a narrative history and thus to read as such. This editing process must have been extensive. However once that was complete Locke and Wright were able to assemble the first draft of their thirty chapter textbook.To fully appreciate the level of collaboration and attention to detail that went into this project, one must just simply check the credentials of the contributors. They range from Ivy League schools, to scholars at museums to major research institutions and everything in between. They certainly have gotten a wide range of active scholars. The “About” section of The American Yawp claims that it is for scholars and by scholars and it certainly is just that. The forty six editorial advisors, thirty three digital content advisors, twenty eight chapter editors and seven media curators have created a team behind Locke and Wright that current publishers should be very fearful of. One of the things that is truly remarkable about The American Yawp is the need that it meets in the world of academics. Most students view textbooks as extremely boring and ridiculously tough to power through. They are somewhat of a necessary evil. However this free online collaborative book is written in such a narrative manner that the reader can effortlessly flow through the story of American history while not being bored by the minor nuances that true historians love. This is not a textbook written for an upper level course or to showcase the amount of research possible for a book. Instead it is written to satisfy the needs of a survey course. To provide an overview of American history. If the reader is so interested in the material they can dive deeper because of the additional reading section provided in each chapter. The American Yawp does a fantastic job of checking the boxes of what is required to do, but still understanding its place on the totem pole of scholarship. Due to the overall simplistic nature of the project, the interface is extremely simple and creates a very easy platform for the user to interact with. The experience of using this free, online, collaborative textbook is clean, crisp and easy to use. When the reader opens up the webpage they are greeted with a very basic page with a picture of an American flag and a breakdown of chapters. In a sense it simply looks like a table of context as many other textbooks would have. However each chapter is a hyperlink to the narrative of the that period. The two columns in the table of context are broken down as the two traditional periods of American history, before 1877 and after 1877. 1877 being the time when Reconstruction officially ended in the South. Typically most institutions break down their American history courses on the same distinction. They have also provided a primary source reader for each chapter. As an American history enthusiast it is so unbelievably helpful to have those resources at your disposal for free. That makes diving into the content much easier for scholars and teachers. The American Yawp is a one stop shop for anyone looking for an overview of American History. Once inside each chapter, it is broken down by section and topic. Each topic varies in length but generally speaking there is anywhere from six to nine sections for chapter. Additionally at the end of each section, they have provided a recommended citation for that chapter of the textbook. Something that is so unbelievably useful for college students in one hundred or two hundred level courses. It is very evident that Locke and Wright have considered every aspect of this project. They have also allowed for the reader to add their input to the text. At the top of each chapter there is a hyperlink that claims, “The American Yawp is an evolving, collaborative text. Please click here to improve this chapter.” Inside that hyperlink each paragraph of that chapter is numbered and allows the reader to comment and attempt to improve the project. Upon further review some of the proposed comments aren’t of the most serious nature. One comment in the 1980’s chapter read, “Ronald Reagan is a llama.” However the next comment was of a more serious nature. The editors have provided a link to see the most recent activity by a show all recent comments section. That way the editors can see the exact comments and determine the level of merit associated with each comment. This way the readers have a voice and can attempt to improve the project. Certainly something to consider about the project is the usability of The American Yawp in the classroom. Most advanced placement United States History Teachers or entry level college courses would be able to utilize this project in their pedagogy. The open access and price is definitely appealing to college students as well as public school districts. Principals and central office employees would love the sound of a textbook that is always evolving, produced by highly qualified scholars and is completely free. Some critics may claim that a digital textbook doesn’t allow the student or reader to interact with the material or highlight the text. However most colleges give students a weekly allotment of prints per week. Each chapter, printed front and back is roughly fifteen pages long. If one were to consider the cost of ink and a pack of paper, it would only be a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of a traditional textbook. With the printed chapter, students would be able to study and interact with the text very easily. In addition to that many students could simply take notes on the digital form and then study their notes. When you weigh the pros and cons of the situation The American Yawp wins every time based off it’s practically and overall easy to use nature. The only thing left to wonder is why wasn’t a project like this created sooner and when will this happen for other topics? (When transferring over to weebly my footnotes disappeared. Here is a link to the properly cited Google Doc) “The American Yawp: Collaboration, Innovation and Simplification” -Adam |
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