Geography 594:

Geographic Information and Society

Spring 2007

Instructor:

David M. Mark: Web page , Email: dmark@buffalo.edu

Geographic Information and Society examines the interrelationships between GIS and the political, economic, legal, social, cultural, spatial, and institutional structures of society. Two general perspectives are reviewed: The institutional perspective focuses on GIS implementation processes and benefit/cost measures in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and equity, as well as on theories and methods for determining how spatial information influences land and policy decisions. The critical social theory perspective focuses on a critical analysis of the effects of GIS technologies on individuals and groups, including issues of representation, alternative modes of reasoning, and differential access to technology. Both theoretical and applied aspects of GIS and Society are reviewed in the context of the two general perspectives.

FACTS ABOUT THE COURSES

SPRING 2003 INFORMATION: GEO 594

TIMETABLE:

CREDIT HOURS: 3

GRADING: The grade will be based on a research paper, a class presentation, and class participation.

Draft Course Outline

• January 16 (Tu) Introduction: Geographic Information and Society

• January 23 (Tu) Overview of the GI & Society topic
• Required Readings:

§       Harley, J.B., 1989. Deconstructing the Map. Cartographica 26(2): 1-20.

§       Sheppard, E., 1995. GIS and Society: Towards a research Agenda. Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, 22 (1): 5-16.

§       Sheppard, E., Couclelis, H., Graham, S., Harrington, J. W., and Onsrud, H., 1999, Geographies of the information society. International Journal of geographical Information Science 13(8), 797-823.

• Other references:

§       Harley, J.B., 1990. Cartography, Ethics, and Social Theory. Cartographica 27(2): 1-23.

§       Pickles, J., 1991. Geography, G.I.S. and the Surveillant Society. Applied Geography Conference.

• January 30 (Tu) The institutional perspective on GI and Society: Sharing Geographic Information
• Readings: Three chapters from Sharing Geographic Information. Harlan J. Onsrud, and Gerard Rushton, editors. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research:

§       Pinto, J. K., and Onsrud, H. J., Sharing geographic information across organizational boundaries: A research framework. 44-64.

§       Calkins, H. W., and Weatherbe, R., Taxonomy of spatial data sharing. 65-75

§       Kevany, M. J., A proposed structure for observing data sharing. 76-100.

• February 6 (Tu) The institutional perspective on GI and Society: Value of Information
• Readings:

§       Dickinson, H. J., and Calkins, H. W., 1988. The economic evaluation of implementing a GIS. International Journal of geographical Information Systems 2(4), 307-327.

§       Calkins, H. W., and Obermeyer, N. J., 1991. Taxonomy for surveying the use and value of geographical information. International Journal of geographical Information Systems 5(3), 341-351.

§       Onsrud, H. J., and Calkins, H., 1993. Research Initiative 4: Use and value of geographic information. Closing Report, NCGIA, Santa Barbara, CA.

• February 13 (Tu) Public participation GIS
• Readings:
• Jordan, G., A public participation GIS for community forestry user groups in Nepal: Putting people before technology. Position paper, Varenius Workshop on Empowerment, Marginalization, and Public Participation GIS. PDF File: http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/varenius/ppgis/papers/jordan.pdf
• Harris, T., and Weiner, D., 1999. Community-integrated GIS for land reform in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Position paper, Varenius Workshop on Empowerment, Marginalization, and Public Participation GIS, http://www.ncgi a.ucsb.edu/varenius/ppgis/papers/harris.html.
• Kingston, R., 1999. Web based GIS for public participation decision making in the UK. Position paper, Varenius Workshop on Empowerment, Marginalization, and Public Participation GIS, http ://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/varenius/ppgis/papers/kingston/kingston.html.
• Al-Kodmany, K., 1999. GIS and the artist: Shaping the image of a neighborhood in participatory environmental design. Position paper, Varenius Workshop on Empowerment, Marginalization, and Public Participation GIS, http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/varenius/ppgis/papers/al-kodmany.html.
• Public Participation GIS Home Page
• Empowerment, Marginalization, and Public-Participation GIS (Varenius Project)
• Direct link to all Varenius PPGIS papers

• February 20 (Tu) Legal and ethical aspects of GI and Society
• Readings:
• Onsrud, H. J., 1999. Basic readings in GIS law
• Onsrud, H.J., 1997. Ethical Issues in the Use and Development of GIS Proceedings of GIS/LIS'97.
• Promoting Access to and Use of Government Scientific and Technical Data-- An Assessment of Legal and Policy Options

• February 27 (Tu) Space, culture, indigenous peoples, and tribal GIS
• Readings:
• Rundstrom, R., 1995. GIS, Indigenous Peoples, and Epistemological Diversity. Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, 22 (1): pp 45-57.

§       Winchell, D. G., Goodman, J. M., Jett, S. C., and Henderson, M. L., 1989. Geographic research on native Americans. In: G. L. Gaile and C. J. Wilmott, editors, Geography in America, Columbus: Merrill Publishing Company, pp. 239-255.

• Rundstrom, R., Deur, D., Berry, K., and Winchell, D., 2003, American Indian Geography. Chapter 38 in Gaile, G. L., and Wilmott, C. J. (eds.) Geography in America at the Dawn of the 21^st Century. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 600-615
• First Nations Mapping and GIS
• ESRI Native/First Nations Index
• Intertribal GIS Council Home Page
• Native Lands
• Roebourne Primary School (Australia)

• March 6 (Tu) Latour and Social Practice
• Readings:
• Chrisman, N. R., 1999. Speaking Truth to Power: An Agenda for Change In K. Lowell and A. Jaton, editors. Spatial Accuracy Assessment Land Information Uncertainty in Natural Resources Ann Arbor Press, Chelsea MI. pp. 27-31. (PDF Format; about 3700 words)
• Chrisman, N., unpublished. Full Circle: More than just Social Implications of GIS Unpublished manuscript, not to be quoted without author's permission. (PDF Format; about 9000 words)

• March 15 Spring break, no classes

• March 19 (Tu) Intellectual history of GIS and Geographic technologies
• Readings:
• Mark, D. M., Chrisman, N., Frank, A. U., McHaffie, P. H., and Pickles, J. 1997. The GIS History Project. Proceedings, UCGIS Summer Assembly, Bar Harbor, Maine, June 15-21. http://www.geog.b uffalo.edu/ncgia/gishist/bar_harbor.html
• Mark, D. M., 1997. The History of Geographic Information Systems: Invention and Re-Invention of Triangulated Irregular Networks (TINs). Proceedings, GIS/LIS'97. http://www.geog.buf falo.edu/ncgia/gishist/GISLIS97.html

• March 27 (Tu) Critical GIS
• Readings:

§       "Trouble in the heartland: GIS and its critics in the 1990s" by Nadine Schuurman

§       "Is GIS for Women? Refections on the critical discourse in the 1990s" by Mei-Po Kwan

• April 3 (Tu) The critical social theory perspective on GI and Society, 1
• Readings:
• Pickles, J., 1995. Representations in an electronic age: Geography, GIS, and democracy. In Pickles, J. (editor) Ground Truth: The Social Implications of Geographic Information Systems. New York: Guldford press.
• Miller, R., 1995. Beyond method, beyond ethics: integrating social theory into GIS and GIS into social theory. Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, 22 (1): 98-103.

• April 10 (Tu) The critical social theory perspective on GI and Society 2 (Mark in Texas)
• Readings:
• Mitchell, W. 1995. City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Introduction (pp. 1-5) and Chapter 5 "Soft Cities" (pp. 107-131).
• Castells, C., 1996. The Rise of the Network Society. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers. Prologue (pp. 1-28) and Chapter 6 "The Space of Flows" (pp. 376-428).
• Baudrillard, J. 1994. Simulacra and Simulation. University of Michigan Press. Chapter 1 "The Precession of Simulacra".
• Haraway, D. 1997. Modest_Witness@Second_Millenium.FemaleMan Meets OncoMouse (TM): Feminism and Technoscience. New York: Routledge. Chapter 2.1 "Semantics: Modest_Witness@Second_Millenium" (pp. 23-45)

• April 19 AAG Meeting, San Francisco, GEO 594 cancelled

• April 24 Student presentations

• May 2 (F) Term Paper or Research Project Due

Web sites related to the course:

• West Harlem Environmental Action, Community Risk Map
• Social and Economic Implications of Information Technologies: A Bibliographic Database Pilot Project

Last updated on February 6 2007

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