A Guide to Mapping Small Joys Jessica Breen, American University A small joy is anything that makes your day better: a good cup of coffee, an unexpected meeting with a friend, hearing a favorite song. "A Guide to Mapping Small Joys" is a zine-based mapping project that invites participants to notice these moments of joy in their daily lives and create a personal map, or even atlas, of where small joys occur for them. Intended as an analog, affective mapping exercise to facilitate classroom conversations about place, identity, and representation, this talk walks through the zine design, the mapping activity, and what some of the collected maps look like in practice.
The K-12 Teacher Fellowship Model: Expanding Geographic Literacy and Outreach in Map Libraries Ryan Mattke, University of Minnesota Libraries Learn how a K-12 Summer Teacher Fellowship, launched in 2023, is enhancing the relevance of map libraries and expanding geographic literacy. This presentation details the program's development and analyzes it alongside three comparable national initiatives. These four case studies reveal key elements for success, offering a blueprint for similar outreach programs and strong justification for funding. See how a collaborative approach fosters a robust teacher-fellow community and positions map libraries as vital, intersectional hubs—bridging the gap between extensive university research resources and the practical needs of K-12 educators.
Building a Cartography Lab at an R2 University: Reflections from the JMU Map Lab Timothy Prestby, James Madison University Several universities at very high research (R1) institutions (e.g., Penn State, UW-Madison, University of Oregon) have cartography labs. However, such labs are not common at strong (R2) institutions. In this talk, I introduce The James Madison University (JMU) Map Lab: an R2 cartography lab that aims to advance mapmaking as a tool for communication, decision-making, and community engagement. I reflect on the opportunities and challenges of launching and sustaining the JMU Map Lab within an R2 institutional context and conclude by considering what these reflections may mean for similar institutions.
The data context gap in cartography textbooks and handbooks Ester Scheck, TU Wien If "numbers don’t speak for themselves," cartographers must understand the context of the data they use. Data is never neutral or objective; it is shaped by social, legal, and technological conditions. I argue for "responsible data practices"- an intentional approach that considers the context in which data is produced and its impact on communities. However, my research based on a qualitative content analysis of major cartography textbooks and handbooks points to a significant gap. These books primarily focus on the technical handling of data (e.g., data formats and classification) while overlooking data source issues and the data production context. My ongoing doctoral research aims to bridge this gap by developing methodologies to critically examine data context and inform critical map design.
Friday October 23, 2026 10:40am - 12:00pm CDT Room 3
