About GSS 2245: Feminist Geographies
GSS 2245: Feminist Geographies Taught by Lara Lookabaugh (Fall 2024)
This course explores the gendered, colonial, and racialized articulations of the spaces we inhabit – from our classrooms and campuses to sites and struggles across the globe. We will take seriously bodies and land as sites of theorizing and start with the geographies of our campus landscapes to expand our analysis to global and transnational locales. We will understand the global as not “out there” in a distant land but as unevenly and unequally connected to us through historical and ongoing processes of colonialism, extraction, consumption, and activism. We will start from Indigenous feminist theories of the connections between bodies and territory (Cabnal, Zaragocin, Milán, Paredes) and land as pedagogy (Simpson) to understand how these processes connect the landscapes we traverse daily and global struggles.
In this course you will complete two research projects. The first will take us to university archives and across campus to learn about the gendered and racialized geographies of the Vanderbilt and the city of Nashville. In the second project, you will look for connections between systems of difference in our present space and a national or transnational topic to analyze using the concepts and skills we’ve learned over the semester. We will create a public class project using ArcGIS Storymaps to share our research beyond the classroom.
GIS Lab Presentation Slides about ArcGIS StoryMaps
GIS + Feminist Geography
Intersection of GIS and Feminist Geography
Why GIS and StoryMaps Are Valuable Tools for Feminist Geographic Research:
- Revealing Patterns of Inequality: GIS can visually highlight how space and place are impacted by gender, race, class, and other social factors. This visibility allows to better understand spatial patterns of inequality and exclusion that might otherwise be hidden or overlooked.
- Tracing Colonial Histories: Mapping enables the tracing of colonial histories and land dispossession, showing how historical events continue to affect current landscapes and communities. For example, mapping can reveal the ongoing impacts of colonial land use or redlining on marginalized communities.
- Supporting Movements of Resistance: GIS can help document sites of resistance and resilience, such as activist movements or community spaces where people resist marginalization. StoryMaps can give these spaces and stories visibility, supporting broader understanding and engagement.
Limitations of GIS from a Feminist Perspective:
- Representation and Bias: Traditional GIS datasets often overlook marginalized communities, and the creators’ biases can shape how data is collected and presented. This may result in the erasure or misrepresentation of feminist and decolonial perspectives.
- Data Ethics and Privacy: Mapping sensitive locations (such as community gathering sites or activist spaces) can raise ethical issues. Feminist geographers must navigate these concerns carefully, ensuring that data use respects the rights and privacy of the communities involved.
- Accessibility and Inclusivity: GIS tools and data can be costly and complex, limiting access for some users and communities. Feminist geographers seek to democratize mapping by creating accessible resources and tools for diverse audiences.
Examples of StoryMaps
- Coming Home: A History of Queer Nightlife in Nashville. Created in April 2022 by MTSU Public History graduate students Laura Headlee, Rian Rowland, Bethany Ewald, and Valeria Eadler as part of a class project.
- Mapping Prejudice. Project began in 2016 and is ongoing by University of Minnesota Libraries.
- Mapping Indigenous LA: Placemaking Through Digitial Storytelling
