Announcing the New Mappings Collaboratory

I'm happy to announce the formation of the New Mappings Collaboratory associated with the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky. It is strongly tied to the research interests of the Floating Sheep blog but also includes new areas of interest (see below) brought by the department's new GIS faculty. I encourage students interested in graduate studies in these areas to apply for study at the University of Kentucky.

“New Maps” draws upon both applied and conceptual traditions in mapping practices and mapping thought and represents a stream of scholarship focused on public engagement, “big data” and user-generated Internet content, as well as experimentation in place-based thinking, analysis, and representation. As a catalyst for mapping engagements on and off campus, New Maps works to promote creativity, excellence, and interaction around emergent mapping and GIS technologies. A range of faculty from the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences (in addition to Geography) are engaged with the New Maps project.

Current faculty and graduate students research projects/interests include:

• Collection and analysis of a range of user generated data including Twitter Tweets, Google Placemarks and Flickr photos;
• Analyzing the spatiality of online social networks through volunteered geographic data;
• Working with community partners to design and build participatory GIS and mapping tools and products;
• Citizen science in the production of scientific knowledge, including do-it-yourself aerial image capture using helium balloons and kites;
• Applying GIS techniques to the digital humanities and related disciplines; and
• Ethics, implications, and the use of geographic information and technologies in an age of ubiquitous location and surveillance.

More details on applying for graduate study are available here. The deadline for applications is January 15, 2012. Fellowships and teaching assistantships (including full tuition waivers) are available on a competitive basis.

For more information please please contact me or Dr Jeremy Crampton or Dr. Matthew Wilson.

Graduate Studies in Aerial Ovis (i.e., Floating Sheep) Related Research

Have you enjoyed the maps and research we’ve generated at the FloatingSheep blog? Interested in the how the Internet and Geoweb is helping to shape our use of space and places? Would you like to explore your own specific questions related to these topics?

If so, the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky is currently accepting applications for graduate study at the Masters and Ph.D. level. While the department has a number of existing strengths within human geography (economic, cultural landscapes, political ecology, social theory) we are expanding into the new and exciting arenas of online/mobile mapping and critical cartography/GIS. This includes the kind of work we've been posting here but also takes on questions such as:

• How do we understand the impact of new data sources, new actors and changing authority behind maps?
• How do online social networks blend with material space?
• What does near ubiquitous geodata means for privacy/surveillance, power and democracy and the spatial organization of our economies?
• Is spatial thinking becoming a basic educational requirement and how is it incorporated into humanities, social sciences and natural science?
• What is the role of code/software on visibility in the Geoweb?

You can check out some of the academic publications related to floating sheep and a broader range of my own research. In addition to myself, the department is hiring two additional faculty members (names to be revealed shortly) who are both doing cutting edge work in this area. In short, it is going be a really exciting place to do this kind of research.

Students admitted to the graduate program receive full tuition waivers and stipends in exchange for working as teaching assistants. Fellowships and other funding is also possible.

More information on the application process is available here. Applicants should submit their materials by January 15 (I should have posted posted this earlier!) to ensure a complete review. If you are interested it would be best to submit by then BUT applications are possible after this date. Just be sure to let me know that it is in progress so I can keep an eye out for it.

If you are interested (or want more information) please email me.

Matthew Zook