GEOG 450 A: Visualizing Seattle

Visualizing Seattle 

Welcome to the course –we are very happy to have you on board! We are looking forward to working with you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Overview:                                                                                                           

All place-based phenomena can be mapped in some way, but not all visualizations of human spatial experiences can or should take traditional cartographic forms. Complex, context-rich human experiences of space and place, and multi-dimensional data representing spatial phenomena (movements, time, emotions, subjective perceptions, thematically-related phenomena occurring at other times/places, etc) are difficult to represent in traditional cartographic form. Yet visualizing these aspects of human spatial experience is an important way to deepen our understanding of them

In this course you will learn more-than-Cartesian ways of representing human spatial experiences. You will expand your conceptual and technical skills for encoding human spatial experiences as ‘data’ and creating place-based infographics that visualize these data in creative ways. This course deepens your preparation as human geographers by expanding your coding skills and familiarizing you with creative geovisualization techniques that could be used for humanistic, artistic and social scientific applications.

We will use the city of Seattle as our case study, focusing on its vibrant residents, neighborhood characteristics and rapid change in the city in recent years. Together, we will develop ways of encoding various aspects of Seattle’s place-based context as data (local history, nature, culture, residents, and lifestyle), and use these data to build creative place-based infographics about the city.

The course will provide four unique opportunities for you to develop a collaborative project around a given theme. You will observe various aspects of human life in Seattle, think about their connections in place, develop ways to measure, encode and visualize these phenomena, and narrate your findings from this whole process. You will do a self-evaluation of your own work, to have a chance to interpret it from a different point of view and develop the work further.

Learning Objectives:                                                                                                  

In this course you will:

• Explore creative ways to analyze, visualize and narrate human spatial activities through the lens of data.
• Think and question critically about diverse human spatial interactions such as flow, emotion, color of our living space, and neighborhood characteristics.
• Invite new perspectives from other students and develop stronger communication skills through a series of group work.
• Systematically develop processes for data creation, collection, and formation that captures complex context-rich human spatial experiences
• Learn to create several types of infographics including Stacked Bar chart, Sankey diagram, radial-dendrogram, and Bubble chart using open source apps and coding languages including Python and JavaScript.
• Understand the context of data for communicating them in visual form
• Develop strategies to find creative ways of encoding and visualizing spatial data to deliver the context behind them
• Increase your capacity to narrate spatial data through different forms of visualization and description
• Develop interpretive and analytical writing skills about context-rich visualizations
• Learning to critically evaluate this process of encoding and visualization, identify alternatives or develop your own methods

Meetings:

Lecture: 

• MW 1:00 PM -2:20 PM LOW 201

Labs: 

• Section AA : T Th 1:30 - 2:20 PM SMI 401
• Section AB : T Th 2:30 - 3:20 PM SMI 401

Personnel:                                                                                                                      

Instructor:       

        Gunwha Oh, Office Hours on Wednesdays from 2:30 PM - 3:20 PM or by appointment ( gunwhaoh@uw.edu)  @ Smith Hall, 416 B                                                 

Teaching Assistant: 

        Alyson Mabie, Office Hour on day and time, or on Zoom by appointment ( amabie@uw.edu )

Technical Information:                                                                                                

I will use UW canvas for this course. Please contact me through your UW email or through Canvas for all class-related issues.  Response time to e-mails will likely be around 24 hours, so try to plan ahead with time-sensitive questions. If you are getting an error or something is not appearing the way it should, please include a screenshot so that I can provide adequate support.

Software (free, open source) :

• Google Jamboard to sketch, develop, and share an idea and work process
• Google Colab to develop, code, and share a work.
• Numpy, Pandas, Plotly, Altair, Bokeh and some other graphical Python packages to organize, manipulate, and visualize the data

Readings:

• Seattleness A Cultural Atlas, Tera Hatfield, Jenny Kempson, and Natalie Ross, 2018, Sasquatch Books

• Dear Data, Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec, 2016, Princeton Architecture Press

Assignment and Grading                                                                                 

Final course grades will be calculated as percentages and then converted to a grade on a 4.0 scale using this conversion chart. (that link is just a reference, taken from the Linguistics department). I reserve the right to offer additional extra credit opportunities, or to curve grades for particular assignments, if I feel that this is warranted.

Assignment Submission: Complete assignments and exams on time. To be fair to your classmates who do their work in a timely fashion, unless a documented medical or personal emergency arises, any work turned in late will be penalized 10% of the total score per day that it is late.  10% for 1 day late, 20% for 2 days, and so on. For Winter 2024, it is Mar. 8. A submission won't be accepted after the last submission day. Extensions or incompletes will not be granted unless exceptional circumstances require it and prior arrangements have been made.

Classroom Norms                     

a. Respect.

This class may involve discussions of sensitive topics, about which students may have very different perspectives. During discussion we must listen to and respond to others with respect, so that everyone feels comfortable and safe sharing their ideas.

b. Monitor your Speaking.

This class may involve small group work or class discussions. It is important that all students have an opportunity to share their ideas. Please ensure that you are contributing to the class, but also that you are allowing space for other students to contribute their own ideas.

c. Invite New Voices Into the Conversation.

If you notice that other students have not had an opportunity to contribute to a conversation, try to invite them into the discussion to share their perspective.

d. Appropriate Use of Technology.

We will, quite obviously, be using technology throughout this course. Try to only use your technology for purposes that directly contribute to your own educational advancement within the class. Be sure to follow all departmental and university rules related to technology use.

e. Conduct and Academic Honesty.

Academic dishonesty, including but not limited to plagiarism, cheating, or submitting academic work that has previously been submitted (without citation or previous permission of instructor) will be penalized.  If you have questions about what constitutes a violation of the policy, see me or review details here: https://depts.washington.edu/grading/pdf/AcademicResponsibility.pdf .

Academic dishonesty will be handled according to the University’s Student Conduct Code: http://www.washington.edu/cssc/student-conduct-overview/student-code-of-conduct/  .

Plagiarized assignments will automatically receive a zero, and further disciplinary action will be considered depending on the severity of the transgression. Students are also expected to follow the Student Conduct Code for Geography Classroom:      https://geography.washington.edu/student-code-conduct )

f. Late Submission of Work and Grading Errors

In most cases, late submissions of work will be penalized 10% per day that it is late. However, some grades may be based on in-class participation that cannot be made up outside of class. These grades therefore cannot be made up or submitted late. Please let me know ahead of time if you expect to miss a class, or if you expect that you will need to submit an assignment late. The last date at which late work will be accepted is Mar. 8, 2023. 

If you feel that any of your assignments have been incorrectly or unfairly graded, please wait 24 hours and then submit, via email, your argument as to why your grade should be changed.

g. Students with special needs

If you know of any factors in your life that may hinder your ability to learn to your potential in this course, please let me know.  If these factors are recognized disabilities under the ADA, please register with Disability Resources for Students (DRS) and bring your letter of accommodation to me as soon as possible so that we develop a plan to accommodate your needs. DRS can be contacted at: 448 Schmitz Hall; Phone: 206-543-8924 (Voice & Relay), 206-616-8379 (FAX); or E-mail: uwdrs@uw.edu.

h. Remote learning

Faculty members at U.S. universities – including the University of Washington – have the right to academic freedom which includes presenting and exploring topics and content that other governments may consider to be illegal and, therefore, choose to censor. Examples may include topics and content involving religion, gender and sexuality, human rights, democracy and representative government, and historic events. If, as a UW student, you are living outside of the United States while taking courses remotely, you are subject to the laws of your local jurisdiction. Local authorities may limit your access to course material and take punitive action towards you. Unfortunately, the University of Washington has no authority over the laws in your jurisdictions or how local authorities enforce those laws. If you are taking UW courses outside of the United States, you have reason to exercise caution when enrolling in courses that cover topics and issues censored in your jurisdiction. If you have concerns regarding a course or courses that you have registered for, please contact your academic advisor who will assist you in exploring options.

Notice: Reading material and data provided to you through this class is for your use in this class only. Please be advised that by accessing some such electronic materials, you indicate you understand they are provided for the purposes of your study within this course and that additional uses may go beyond what is legally sanctioned, as suggested by the notice below. The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of fair use that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Schedule and Topics for Discussion                                                                     

*Additional information will be provided in class.