International Spring School on Visualization, 6.‒ 8. April 2022
MAPS & CULTURE & DIVERSITY
The series of the Online Spring Schools on Visualization in 2022 has been dedicated to the topic how diverse cultures reflect on the map perception, production, etc. A culture is a wide field, so the specific lectures were given only on some aspects of the culture i.e., literature, History instruction, maps produced by Jesuits.
The introductory lecture was given by prof. Ferjan Ormeling (University of Utrecht) about the global diversity in topics, visualization techniques used in the map production.
Dr. Jíří Flajšar (Palacky University) gave an interesting presentation about the American literature and maps in them. The maps can create an interesting bond for the reader to reality, On the Road (Jack Kerouac, 1957), or can immerse the reader more into the fictional world. The presentation was fallowed by the British perspectives by assoc. prof. Pavlína Flajšarová (Palacky University).
An interesting part of the school was a guided practise led by Justin Van Dijk (University College London). The task was to create a Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) for the distribution of last names in the Great Britain. The lesson explained the KDE parametrization and visualization in QGIS. See my example below on the last name Novak, the most frequent in the Czech Republic. That is why it is represented especially in the city agglomeration by the immigrants.
The spring school proved that any data connected to space is an interesting topic for mapping. The diversity is not only in data but also in the cartographic technique advancements. Nevertheless, the culture-related maps document nicely the current status of a particular society for today and the future generations.
Pesonal output from the guided practical lesson with Justin Van Dijk.
Cartificate of attendance.