DIGITAL SCHOLARSHIP
I take a qualitative approach to the use of geographic information systems (GIS), and I use digital mapping as both a research tool and an instrument for teaching. I have made use of the following platforms and libraries: ArcGIS, CARTO, Leaflet, Mapbox Studio, and QGIS. Below are several maps that I have created as examples of possible uses for GIS in historical research.
I take a qualitative approach to the use of geographic information systems (GIS), and I use digital mapping as both a research tool and an instrument for teaching. I have made use of the following platforms and libraries: ArcGIS, CARTO, Leaflet, Mapbox Studio, and QGIS. Below are several maps that I have created as examples of possible uses for GIS in historical research.
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MAPPING MY CV
One way to understand a scholar is to consider with whom they are in conversation. As a means of reflection, I decided to present my CV in cartographic form. At first glance, this map shows even scholarly engagement across South America, United States, and parts of Europe. But maps can be deceiving. While all locations appear with the same black marker, if you click on the markers in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, you'll see evidence of much more work than in Colombia or Germany. What's more, the map does not always indicate with whom I engaged. How could one adjust the map's design to more clearly reflect this nuance and what limits might even exist then? This map was made using Leaflet's open-source JavaScript library and tiles from OpenStreetMap. |
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MAPPING HISTORIOGRAPHY
Spatial assumptions are an integral component to claims about the past, and digital mapping can be a tool to identify and challenge them. In my research, this has included mapping scholarly claims about the locations of autonomous Native communities in the Río de la Plata during the eighteenth century. In the map here, I plotted ethnic labels according to the geographic area where a scholar or scholars claimed that purported ethnic communities lived. Label weights correspond with the number of authors that made a particular claim: 10 pts. for 1 author, increasing incrementally at 3 pts. per additional author, and capped at 25 pts. for six or more citations. This exercise revealed contradictory claims among researchers. Place the cursor over any label to reveal the specific citations. This map was made using CARTO and appears in my book, Where Caciques and Mapmakers Met. |
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MAPPING TO REREAD ARCHIVES
In my article, "Borderline Offerings," I draw upon digital mapping to represent colonial archives of information regarding autonomous Indigenous peoples in the eastern Río de la Plata. In reading the spatial information dispersed in fragmented references, I attempt to challenge entrenched geographic visions for the region and center the spaces and actions of Charrúas and Minuanes. This article includes four digital interactive maps, the first of which is shown here. Click here to view this map in full screen or to view the article's other maps. All were made using ArcGIS. |
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MAPPING IN THE CLASSROOM
In a seminar that I teach on histories of unfree migrations in the Americas (LALS194E), students learn how to use open source and open access digital mapping tools to represent historical data. One exercise involves mapping estimated numbers of Indigenous captives by region in Andrés Reséndez's The Other Slavery (gray points) and Nancy Van Deusen's Global Indios (black points) to help us contextualize and interpret historical documents from across the Americas. We consider the challenges and limitations of source materials, as well as the implications of data-driven attempts to represent human suffering. Students use story maps to connect our historical research to a wide range of present-day commemorations and reflections accessible via YouTube, Twitter, podcasts, and elsewhere. This map was created using QGIS and Mapbox Studio. |
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Digital mapping is also a way to visualize and interpret the historic evidence on the forced migration and enslavement of Africans across the Atlantic World that is available via SlaveVoyages and other database projects. By combining digital mapping with critical readings and autobiographies of enslaved people, students are introduced to both the possibilities and limitations of quantitative research on histories of violence and suffering. This lesson plan presents one way to broach these topics while providing students with instruction and practice in digital mapping.
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MAPPING HISTORIC MAPS
In my book chapter, "Between Ethnonyms and Toponyms," I coded 173 maps of the eastern Río de la Plata region according to where they plotted ethnonyms. By tracing this common cartographic convention, I was able to identify ten patterns of ethnonym placement from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. This exercise revealed the intertextuality between maps and allowed me to distinguish the cartographic renderings from ethnogeographic information available in manuscript sources from the region. This map is a composite rendering of historic maps that fell into the seventh pattern. Grey labels replicate the ethnonym location on the original maps, while black labels indicate a composite rendering. Some of the original maps appear in the slideshow and are linked to their host library or archive. |
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