1. Watch and reflect
Watch this documentary about (32 minutes) about (counter-)mapping. Think about the following questions:
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How does the way people featured on the video talk about maps can inform our understanding of ethnographic representation in general (beyond maps)?
What does Denis Wood mean by ‘angry map-makers’? Can you imagine ‘angry ethnographers’? Does our discipline need them? What would they be angry about? When Philippe Rekacewicz discusses radical cartography, he similarly mentions that the first step is to look at the world and notice ‘unacceptable’ things with which one is rightfully ‘upset’. He, and some other people featured on the video, also mentions that maps can be used as means for activism. Does ethnographic representation (beyond maps) have the potential to affect positive change in the world and encourage activism? How can ethnographic accounts more effectively support activism?
2. Learning by doing
Start with the architectural plan of the building in which your department is hosted (if you don’t have access to the building’s architectural plan, you can use the fire safety plan that’s usually posted on a wall close to the entrance or create a simple spatial map of the building yourself). Take a copy of the map with you and go on a walk inside the building. How is the map different from the built environment it represents? What features are not represented in the map?
Reflect on your past and current experiences in the building and write about those experiences on the corresponding places on the map as you take the walk: “I go hide here to destress before my class presentations;” “Lily’s coach is against this wall. It is what I check first thing every time I am in the building to see if I can find my best friend, Lily;” “This is the smelliest part of the building. My pace get faster naturally whenever I approach this part of the building;” “Avoid this table in winter. The drafty window next to this table makes it impossible to sit here for long.”
Review your notes on the map and reflect on this paragraph where Martin (2022) differentiates ethnographic maps from spatial maps.
“Ethnographers have long been interested in spatial maps because cultures are often better understood when the physical spaces occupied by the people of those cultures are taken into consideration. Ethnographic maps are different from traditional maps, however, in that they do not just represent the geographical features of a particular space; ethnographic maps also indicate how people interact with a space, or how particular spatial features interact with cultural practices.”
Share your annotated maps with your class-colleagues (only share what you are comfortable sharing) and create a larger map showing your collective lived experiences in the building. Does the map you made change your understanding of the place mapped?