Deep Mapping Ethics
Overview
This module examines the ethics of deep community mapping of and for Black communities. Students learn to interpret Black life and vitality through mapmaking techniques that analyze historical contexts.
Potential Course Applications
- African American History
- Science and Technology Studies
- Digital Humanities
Readings
Day 1
-
- Hosbey and Roane, “A Totally Different Form of Living”
- Hanchard, “Black Memory versus State Memory”
- Miles, “The Ohio River”
- Miles, “”How Harriet Tubman relied on nature to bring the enslaved to freedom.”
- Day 2
- Wigmore, “Before the Railroad”
- Lussana, “Enslaved Men, The Grapevine telegraph, and the Underground Railroad”
- Bryant, “Underground Railroad Quilt Codes”
- Silverman, “The Secret Maps of the Underground Railroad”
- Day 3
- Tiya Miles, “Of Waterways and Runaways: Reflections on the Great Lakes in Underground Railroad History”, Michigan Quarterly Review L (3): The Great Lakes: Love Song and Lament, Summer 2011.
- Sheridan Ford, in Still, The Underground Rail road
- Abigail Diaz, “Great Lakes vessels helped free slaves on Underground Railroad | Wisconsin Maritime Museum,” Herald Times Reporter, July 2, 2020.
- Projects to explore:
- Day 4
- Klintberg, “Landscape of Forgetting”
- Marty, “ One More river to Cross” in Fluid Frontiers
- Mull, “The McCoys” in Fluid Frontiers
- Projects to explore:
Lessons
Lesson #1: Black Ecologies and Memories
- Lecture #1: Water, space, and time in Black Memory
- Solo writing: What, how, where, and why do we map movements? What is the role of memory in recovering place?
- Group Discussion: What is the point of a map? What do they tell us?
- Class Discussion: What is Black Memory? And State memory?
Lesson #2: Community Knowledge Creation and Transmission
- Lecture #2: Middle Passage, Violence, Beating out memory, reclaiming aqueous ideas and identities
- Solo writing: TBD
- Group Discussion: What might be controversial about sharing knowledge about Freedom Seekers’ movements?
- Class Discussion: What is knowledge? How is it transmitted?
Lesson #3: Mobilities and Challenges along the Underground Railroad
- Lecture #3: Infrastructure, Nature, and Movement
- Solo writing: Imagine yourself in the Great Lakes region in the 17th century, by the Detroit River, what would you see? (refer to period maps of the river and region)
- Group Analytical and Reflective Project: Find a 19th century map of the Detroit area and/or Detroit River. Using Google Maps drop pins at points of crossing that you can identify/speculate on. Now, compare the historical landscape with current satellite maps. Tabulate your data on differences and/or similarities on a spreadsheet. What kinds of mapping challenges do these hold?
- Class discussion: What kind of mobility–from landscape, infrastructure, and politics–challenges could you imagine for an enslaved person?
Lesson #4: Uncovering and forgetting along the Great Lakes: Ethics and Politics
- Lecture #4: Underground Railroad and the politics of forgetfulness.
- Journal Prompt: Reflect on the challenges and opportunities that landscape and infrastructure offered to freedom seekers in and around Detroit. Beyond the obvious political challenge, pay special attention to landscape, ecology, and infrastructure.
- Class discussion: What is Black Memory? Why is it important?
- Writing workshop: write a historically informed fiction piece from the perspective of a freedom seeker crossing the Detroit River.
Potential Assignments
Essay
Coming soon.
Project
Coming soon.
Annotation/Journal
Coming soon.