territorialization:
computation and cognition in spatial analysis

ICAM 130. Seminar in Contemporary Computer Topics
Fall 2005
Instructor: Naomi Spellman

Course Description

Territory is typically understood in geopolitical terms. This course examines territory as a construct originating from a variety of needs and desires both primal and complex, manifested through a wide variety of tactics. Drawing from diverse disciplines and practices including computation, animal science, navigation, cognitive science, anthropology, sociology, and contemporary art practices, we will examine notions of territory. Why is it necessary to establish territories? How are territories demarcated? How are they enforced, and when do they break down? Physical territory, virtual territory, and intellectual territory all come into play. We will engage some of the concepts relevant to territorialization articulated by Deleuze and Guattari such as motif, rhythm, and the establishment and fluctuation of milieu on a small and grand scale. We will trace the changing nature of territories, conflict, and globalization in the age of instant communication. We will examine tools for controlling space such as maps, reconnaissance and image analysis, surveillance infrastructures, GIS, GPS, and language. We will look at how militaries, contemporary economies, and information systems operate with a declining reference to time and geographical distance, thereby reshaping our understanding of space. Most importantly we will consider our own relationship to the territories we inhabit, and the rules that govern them.

Course Goals

To expand our understanding of the application of technologies in the regulation of space; To improve thinking and research skills

Assignments and grading policy

Research Project (50% of grade)
A student driven research project which examines territorialization through an analysis of one or more factors such as: personality, gender, culture, time period, geography, computation method or toolsets, disability or limited ability, physiological traits, etc. The second half of the quarter will be largely dedicated to the research projects.

Weekly assignments and participation (50% of grade)
Students will complete short assignments, due a week after it is given. These will be based on course reading, discussion, a class fieldtrip, a class workshop, films, etc. Students are expected to be active participants in discussions.

Attendance
Students are expected to attend class each week. More than 2 absences results in deduction of one letter grade. More than 5 absences results in a grade of F, or fail.

Course Media and Activitie

Fraser Shilling, a researcher from UC Davis, will visit UCSD to lead an outdoor workshop with the class in spatial cognition.

We will travel to the Border Park and Centro Cultural de Tijuana or other InSite 2005 -affiliated venues to consider cultural commentary on issues of territory.

Course Media will be drawn from various sources, including:
Book Cognition in the Wild, by Edwin Hutchins (1995) on "primitive" (non-computational) navation and early western navigation

Book Einstein's Clocks, Poincaré's Maps; Empires of Time, by Peter Galison (2003) addresses global time zones, global navigation, and imperialism

Film The Great Transatlantic Cable on communications history and the growth of the global economy. Manifesto Introduction to A Critique of Urban Geography by Guy Debord; the Situationist International (1955)

Film Rabbit-Proof Fence by Phillip Noyce. The story of three Aboriginal 'half-caste' children, forcibly removed from their tribal home by Western Australian authorities during the 1930s.

Historic and contemporary maps

Week 10 Nov 28

In-class: Individual and group meetings on your research progress

Research Paper Requirements
1. 3000-word requirement
2. Use a live resource for research, such as a place or person.
3. Address the course theme of Territorialisation.
4. Include some kind of information visualisation
5. List footnotes at the bottom of each page, and Bibiolography at the end of the report.

Final Research Presentations on Thursday, December 8, at 11:30 a.m.to 2:30 p.m. in VAF228. Each presentation will take between 25-40 minutes depending on size of your group.g

Week 8 Nov 14

In-class: Individual and group meetings on your research.

In class incorporating Google Maps API in your project website. The Google Maps API lets developers embed Google Maps in their own web pages with JavaScript. The online documentation will show you how to add overlays to the map (including markers and polylines) and display shadowed "info windows" just like Google Maps. Start by acquiring a Google maps API key. This will allow you to incorporate google maps into your own website on any server by submitting your domain name. Any domain or sub domain directory can be submitted to house your Google map visuals. Try using the provided javascript examples on a webpage on your server.

I tried some of these scripts - here is one with markers to indicate spots, inside an html table. Note that you can specify the size of the map inside the div tag. Here is one with a simple text bubble. Note that these streets in a random remote location do not come up. Here is another example I tried, but with clickable text info boxes at the red markers. But, as you can see, the boxes for all markers appear in the same spot. Oops. Any java programmers have a clue about this part? Also, I noticed that these maps do not come up in Explorer - even without the tables. I don't know if that is an issue overall with Google maps or not....

At geocoder.us find the latitude & longitude of any US address - for free. For international lat/long, try these links.

Creative uses of Google Maps
Google Maps Mania: An unofficial blog tracking the websites, ideas and tools being influenced by Google.

Mapping Hacks is an excellent resource for online mapping tools. We have some experiments and demos for Google Maps hacks here. This hack combining google maps US with craigslist caught my eye from the del.icio.us website.

Wired News: Map Hacks on Crack. Hacks include a small-town walking tour with annotations, a map with clickable London traffic cameras and a map for finding cheap gasoline.

Wired News: Hey Google, Map This! - a hack that combines craigslist real estate listings with city maps from Google maps.

Scripting help for Google Maps
For basic scripting for the map page, http://www.econym.demon.co.uk/googlemaps/ may be helpful - it includes instructions for using remote xml pages for the Longitude/Latitude data,which is parsed and fed to the Google Map html page. Also detailing XML use For XML http://www.xml.com/lpt/a/2005/08/10/google-maps.html. Also useful - http://www.developer.com/java/web/article.php/10935_3528381_1.

Fieldtrip next week Nov 21
We will drive to the Tijuana Estuary Bird Interpretive Center at Noon next Monday. There are directions on this site. Please note directions, and we will need drivers. Let's have everyone pitch in a couple bucks for gas. If it is not raining, we will have a tour of the Border Field State Park after that. Everyone must attend the first part of the fieldtrip - no exceptions! If you must be back on campus by 3:00 pm, you can skip the Border Field tour only.

Loraine Warner will lead a tour of the Bird Center, where we will consider environmental territories, scientific categorisation, and land use in the border area. Greg Abott, who manages the Border Field State park, will take us to several locations within the park. This area houses an important migratory environment, military land, and is heavily surveilled by the US. Interesting differences in land use habits between Mexico and the US abound.

If you have binoculars or a terrestrial telescope - or can borrow one - please bring it! Thanks. .

Week 6 Oct 31

We will watch The Great TransAtlantic Cable

Today: Hand in the first portion of your research paper
1. names of students in the group
2. an abstract (one paragraph, around 500 words) describing your research project

This week: Continue to work on your research projects. Finish Reading Hutchins "Cognition in the Wild" Excerpt. Read through History of the Atlantic Cable and Submarine Telegraphy, in particular the route maps.

We will read a passage from the historic novel Krakatoa: the Day the Earth Stood Still, by Simon Winchester. pp 179-182. Go to amazon.com if you want to access these pages using search inside this book.

We will read a passage from Einsteins Clocks; Poincare's Maps, as a point of comparison to the Micronesian navigation detailed by Hutchins, and to point to the relevance of the cable to time-keeping, communication, navigation, and colonial expansion. Consider the connection between the improvements in communication and navigation provided by the British/French/American cable, and New Imperialism in Asia.

Week 5 Oct 24

Homework
For the next 3 weeks you will work independently in pairs or groups of 3 on research projects. You should start by brainstorming together. On Nov 14, your group is expected to turn in:
1. names of students in the group
2. an abstract (one paragraph, around 500 words) describing your research project
3. a list of urls and excerpts from research you have done.
4. a brief outline of the contents of your research paper
5. a breakdown of who will work on what
6. a list of at least 3 possible visual or audio accompaniment to the written research
7. If you are not sure which idea you want to pursue, hand in the above for one idea, then list the other ideas along with abstracts.

If for any reason you cannot meet with a group by Nov 14, you are responsible for turning in the above on your own. Please note that you expected to email me the above items over the next 3 weeks as follows: By Oct 31st items 1 and 2; By Nov 7th items 3 and 4, and by Nov 14th the complete list including items 5,6, and 7.

Week 4 Oct 17

Homework
For next week write 2 very short proposals (2 paragraphs each) for final research project ideas. You should brainstorm ideas and do a little research for this. Be able to talk about why this makes a good project for this course. You should have a basic understanding of the issues you describe next week. If you are already working on the topic you wish to use for your final, come up with two ways to focus this research.

Also for 10/24, read the Edwin Hutchins chapter handed out in class. You will need to be able to discuss some of the navigation technique details (tools and procedures used) as well as the cultural analysis that Hutchins offers.

Next week, we will put people in pairs or groups of 3 to work together. Make sure I have your latest reports so that I can make suggestions based on your interests. You can work with whomever you would like to work with.

On October 31 we will go on a fieldtrip to Insite 2005. We will visit the Border park installations and also the Tijuana Cultural Center for the FARSITES Exhibit. We will leave from campus at 12:00 sharp from Russell Drive just outside the VAF. Those of you who must return after the Border Park walk will have to make up the FARSITES exhibit by going to the San Diego Museum of Art FARSITES exhibition. You must submit your pink Waiver form to me before you can go, and you must make sure you have proper documentation. Everyone must write a short report on one or more artworks or artists by November 7.

On Nov 7, Fraser Shilling from UC Davis will be conducting a workshop with us during class time.

Week 3 Oct 10

In class: present remaining student reports due this week on a territorial conflict. Learn how to use Google Earth to create sat image flythroughs of multiple locations

Film Rabbit-Proof Fence by Phillip Noyce. The story of three Aboriginal 'half-caste' children, forcibly removed from their tribal home by Western Australian authorities during the 1930s. How does place intersect with space -How does the spatial detail influence the story?

In class activity: Use Google Earth to trace route and see flythrough of the route taken by the children in the film. http://earth.google.com/

Homework
Continue your research. Either continue with your research (using search tips below, or Create a new visual, perhaps using one of the tools or ideas listed below under.

Next week we will try to put people in groups that will be conducive to an interesting group research project. Think about who you'd like to work with. I will post student reports on this website - so please email me text, images, etc!

SOME POTENTIALLY USEFUL TOOLS AND SOME IDEAS FOR THIS WEEK
http://mapbureau.com/.Mapbureau examples. You can use pointmapper with any visual (map, diagram, photograph, graphic, etc). Next week we will do a demo on finding map resources. You will be able to locate, upload, and implement any map or visual, and connect a media file with any spot or location on your own map

Great mapping links, including some practical geospatial data and map sources. We will be using this next week.

Visuals and Maps of abstract territories

Political territory: 2004 Election Map

Search the Research on Place and Space Website

Virtual territory - Cyberspace; Space and Place in Computing; Presence

The Geography of Cyberspace webpage

Place, identity, and the networked world.By Prof. Michael R. Curry

Internet Mapping http://www.opte.org/
An example from http://www.netdimes.org/ipmap.png

Map of the routes involved with DDoS attacks

Buzztracker.org has been mining Google News for over a year and keeping track of relationships between geographic locations mentioned in articles.

Week 2 Oct 3

In class: read reports due this week on a territorial conflict. Learn how to use Google Earth to create sat image flythroughs of multiple locations

Homework
Write a second short (800-word double spaced) report, expanding on the territorial issue or conflict you reported on last week. If you are unhappy with the topic your chose, you may pick a new one. Make sure you have covered the issues listed under last week's homework assignment, in particular: What technologies are being employed in this conflict? How is space being contested? How is space described or measured in this situtation? And what is the geographic context for your particular research? When you email me the report next week you will need to provide me with your research urls indicating the search you did.

Additionally, you will include a geographic component to your reports this week. This will be a visual that somehow enlightens us on the geographic aspect of your topic. You may have to get creative with this. One of the student reports this week contrasted a daydream state with the physical surrounding. One option here would be to use Google Earth to chart your physical path throughout the day - and use the notation associated with the marked spots to describe your metaphysical or daydream state at that place. This would entail keeping notes one day on your paths.

You have several options for the visual component:
Download Google Earth onto your PC, if you have access to a PC. Read through the Google Earth Help to familiarize yourself with the application. Input the locations associated with your research topic. Mark the locations (Add > Marker). You can rearrange the locations in the list, so that the flythrough (view > fly through)follows a logical or meaningful order. Next week show us the results of your Google Earth Tour. You have several options You can play the tour from your laptop; you can make a network link - see instructions in Google Earth help; or email me the KMZ data (NOT the jpg), so that we can look at the fly through from my laptop next week.

Use Google Maps to lookup and mark your locations, comparing the streetmap and satellite views. Then take a screenshot of each. Provide the screenshots next week with your report.

Use Touchgraph to map a network of linked sites on the WWW. The Touchgraph GoogleBrowser at this site may be useful.

When looking for geographic information, a Gazetteer is often useful. It provides a variety of facts on places, including latitude and longitude location, population, census information, flag, currency. This Gazetteer index at Wikipedia.org has a great list of Gazzateers

VIRTUAL AND COGNITIVE MAPPING TOOLS AND EXAMPLES
Cyber Atlas has a number of categories of maps of virtual space, including Conceptual maps, Traceroutes, Info Landscapes,etc. largely defunct but nice examples to thinks about.You can use any combination of the above, or any other mapping visualisation tools.

EXAMPLES OF MAP VISUALISATIONS
Gasbuddy.com charts lowest current gas prices in your area

Florida Sexual Predator map

For those of us who need to know more about advanced internet search Extreme Googling on 10/12/2005 from 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM at the Geisel Library LEC Room

In-class exercises addressing the tools we use daily to express spatial relationships
1. Draw a cognitive (subjective) map of UCSD, including information significant to your daily activity. Include the Main Library and the Price Center as reference points.
Compare students' results. Consider communal knowledge, social habits, and the hierarchy of information in the maps

2. Describe how one can get to campus from your home
What common devices and language do we rely on to express spatial relationships? What systems are referred to in the various descriptions? What methods of computation are employed?

Homework
Write a short (800-word double spaced) paper on a territorial issue or conflict you are familiar with. This may be a political, legal, cultural, ethnic, domestic, or intellectual conflict. You should write about something relevant and interesting to you. The idea of territory can be widely interpreted. Regardless of what you choose to write on, you should consider: Who is involved? What is at stake? Is there more at stake than meets the eye? What means are being used to promote each side's arguement? What technologies are being employed in support of or against one side? How is space being contested? How is it described or measured in this situtation?

Read by next Monday
Essay - introduction to Part II of Space, Place, and Gender by Doreen Massey will be provided to students in class, and will be discussed on 10/3

Online Research Overview and Tips
Download The Google Hackers Guide - really just a good overview of google advanced features. This Guide is good if you want an overview to download, print, and read. Use some of these search tips this week when writing your report. Here is a link to the source for this guide: http://johnny.ihackstuff.com/, which is a fun reference for finding stuff on the internet - stuff that isn't necessarily intended to be shared!

You can also go to Google's own help page, or, if you don't like Google, go to the web search tips page on Search Engine Watch, which covers many good search engines. On this site they even have a comparison of various search engines, to help with when you should use which engine.