The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the global community's daily relationship with space and movement, both at a hyperlocal scale of social distancing to a global scale of disease spread. Spatiotemporal visualizations in the form of maps and apps have allowed us to watch the worldwide spread of COVID-19 and keep tabs on local case counts in our own spaces. Geographic information systems (GIS) provide citizens, researchers, health care providers, and policy makers with a powerful analytical framework for visualization, data exploration, spatial pattern recognition, response planning, and decision making within our life in the time of COVID-19. This course is designed to develop spatial thinking and visualization skills relevant to COVID-19. Students will look at (and critically evaluate) existing maps and apps related to the current pandemic, create their own maps and apps, and critically evaluate their classmates' maps and apps. Class meetings will consist of case study lectures/discussions, instructor-led skill-building workshops, studio work sessions, and presentation/critique sessions. Spatial data collection, management, analysis, and visualization will occur within a cloud-based GIS (ArcGIS Online). Readings prior to the first class will establish a baseline for student comprehension of the breadth of applied geospatial thinking in today's research arena. The course is aimed at students with limited or no prior GIS experience. |