Participants of the “Data, Mapping, & Research Justice” workshop through Co.Open and Allied Media Projects (AMP) spent some time creating analog maps of Detroit using only their hands and their creativity to tell their stories. They agreed to share their maps here for all to see. I was particularly impressed by their use of emotions and social issues related to their spatial/ geographic awareness of Detroit.

At the end of our first class we held an excellent discussion on research justice and how to balance narrative information with hard data; numbers and statistics. We tapped into the long running debate on the merits of qualitative data versus quantitative data. Our conclusion was that both are important to use and often times quantitative numbers data can open the door for policy makers to begin listening to the qualitative stories and experiences of the people behind the numbers.

I can’t wait to see what kinds of digital maps that everyone will come up with by the end of the course!