In this talk, Carolyn Fish, Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Oregon, will explore the larger shifts in the cartographic discipline from contextless controlled experimental studies to the more contextual research now common in the discipline. Hosted by MUSA, the Penn Institute for Urban Research, and the McHarg Center’s EmLab, this lecture is part of the #MUSAMasterClass series.
Dr. Fish will trace this shift in the discipline through her own morphing research program. She will elaborate on her early research which had her questioning whether the maps she was researching were even maps at all. The controlled experimental conditions forced her to remove all context to study a particular cognitive phenomenon. Following a research agenda setting set of workshops in 2015 and 2016, it became clear that removing context from a map to test it was not where she or the discipline wanted to go.
As Dr. Fish traces this shift, she will share two specific research studies which use vastly different methodologies than the controlled experiments of Robinsonian cartographers of the late 20th century. This recent research is fully contextual with the goal of better understanding maps, their potential, and their design.
This event will be hybrid.
Carolyn Fish is an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Oregon. Broadly her research falls at the intersection of cartography and environmental communication. She studies how we can effectively communicate climate change through maps. Maps are one of the primary ways in which scientists and the media both communicate climate change, albeit with different audiences. These visual devices are central to understanding the science and impacts of climate change as well as the potential mitigation strategies. She uses both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis to illustrate how the media and scientists create and design maps that balance communication and scientific accuracy.
She is currently an active member of the Cartography Specialty Group of the AAG, the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS), and Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS).
Providing expert commentary on urban topics and highlighting Penn IUR's research in the context of pressing urban issues.
