Lunchtime lecture series continues with overview of web mapping platform March 28
Monday, March 25, 2013
Written by: University Communication and Marketing

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect program changes for this event.

The next installment of PDH4L—Public Digital Humanities for Lunch—will continue its March theme of connecting mapping to humanities research. The PDH4L talks, sponsored by the Digital Studio for Public Humanities, are free and open to the public. While lunch is not provided, participants are welcome to bring their own.

Colin Gordon, University of Iowa professor of history, will present “Iowa on WorldMap“ on Thursday, March 28, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in 1117 University Capitol Centre at the Old Capitol Town Center.

Gordon will provide an overview of WorldMap, an open source web mapping platform that is being developed by the Center for Geographic Analysis at Harvard to lower barriers for scholars who wish to explore, visualize, edit, collaborate with, and publish geospatial information.

The research presented draws on interdisciplinary projects at the UI. According to Gordon, “In demonstrating WorldMap’s capabilities and its potential, we will focus on a series of projects with Iowa connections—including AfricaMap (the platform’s pilot project), the UIMA’s Mapping Project, Mapping Decline (on the history of St. Louis), and Digital Johnson County.”

Gordon's recent book, Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City, traces the transformation of metropolitan St. Louis in the 20th century, focusing on local regulation of land use, including restrictive deed covenants, real estate restrictions, and municipal zoning. Mapping Decline employs both conventional archival research and digital (GIS) mapping on a wide range of archival, demographic, and political data.

Gordon is interested in public policy and political economy in the United States since 1920. He is also a research consultant at the Iowa Policy Project, for which he has written (with Peter Fisher and Elaine Ditsler ) reports on health coverage, economic development, and wages and working conditions, including the biennial State of Working Iowa series.

PDH4L talks throughout 2013 will focus on the place of public digital humanities in contemporary culture. Over the course of this series, audiences will interact with prominent researchers, helping to shape the conversation at Iowa.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, contact Kyle Moody in advance at 513-593-9487.