Category: Collaborative Project Development

The map that I created is “A Foodie’s Guide of Shanghai”, along with some of my favorite food places. On the weekends, I love going out to brunch with my friends and really see Shanghai in a different light. Since I am a foodie, I love exploring new places and finding new restaurants and cafes to try out. Luckily, Shanghai is an enormous city full of delicious food and coffee. On my map, I drew the different areas that I have been to and recommend for others to try as well. For example, one of my favorite cafes is Rac Coffee, which is located in Puxi. I did not include a legend on my map since the map is pretty self-explanatory and I included names of recognizable attractions to better understand the exact locations. I also drew out some roads and buildings to provide a clear guide as to where things are. I would like to update my map once in a while, of the new foods that I tried out, and maybe it will become a foodie’s guide to delicious Shanghai food. I drew everything in pen first and then colored it in with my colored pens and highlighter since I wanted to keep the aesthetics minimal and easy on the eye. I also included doodles of food at each location to better ‘explain’ the specialties. For example, I drew an ice cream cone next to Zaku Zaku, since it is a creamery. Overall, my map is a detailed representation of my observations of the good food places in Shanghai.

Doc Feb 19, 2019, 16_39

Jorge Luis Borges’s “On Exactitude in Science” talked about how mapping changed and evolved among different generations. Different generations have different needs and their needs would be reflected on their design of the maps. I think it also shows the fact that even though we often view map as an objective thing, it may get subjective sometimes depending on the users’ demands.

Trevor Paglen’s Experimental Geography: From Cultural Production to the Production of Space discussed geography in a more philosophical way. He proposed the idea of experimental geography that emphasises on the combination of both cultural production and the production of space in geography. He believes that production of space in experimental geography should not only be viewed as an ontological condition, but also an integral part of people’s own practices. I am especially interested the implications behind the idea “the production of space”- human activities and material surroundings together create a feedback loop where human activities create material space and in turn, the space constraints upon subsequent activities of human. The ideas in this article was rather new to me, but I really enjoyed reading it.

The information in the podcast was rather straightforward. They presented several examples of how they involve different senses into mapping. The examples given in the discussion was really interactive and creative. Also, I agree with what they said that “Maps have meaning because they filter out all the chaos in the world and focus obsessively on one item.” I think this is a precise definition of what map and mapmaking really is.

Jorge Luis Borges’s “On Exactitude in Science” explores the different views of cartography throughout generations. The passage demonstrates the transformation and improvement of cartography, with criticism from the next generation. This reminded me of current maps and how they are always changing and improving. Initially, cartography was purely on paper and as technology advances, the art of cartography digitalized and became more tangible. While reading the passage, I wondered how cartography evolved and how early man collected data about roads with limited knowledge and assets.

I think the podcast about mapping is interesting, as it provides an alternative way of viewing the world through different lens.“Maps have meaning because they filter out all the chaos in the world and focus obsessively on one item.” By paying close attention to one thing, cartographers are able to accurately capture fine details of a map. At first, I was slightly confused about why the producer chose to connect mapping with different senses. But, I figured out that mapping didn’t have to mean cartography only, but rather, the memories associated with an understanding of the world. Overall, I think it was intriguing to see how the producer chose to incorporate the five senses into mapping to tell their stories. One of the stories that stood out to me was the one about the women having uncontrollable urges to check for breast cancer. Her way of mapping the world was focused on touch, and how that sense plays throughout her life while grasping the world.

While reading the essay by Trevor Paglen about maps, I kept thinking about the scale of maps and how it creates a limited view of a certain area. A map is always cut off on some levels, and space unseen might make the picture look completely different when examined. Although Google Earth provides a solid picture of places using satellites, it does not fully capture everything or the newest changes to a certain area. This makes me speculate the accuracy of many maps, and how a lag time in updating might distort my perspective of a place.

In regards to “A Four-Century Retrospective of Marine Fauna and Fisheries Around New York City” to me this extensive article really brings back memories about learning of the greediness of humans. Sturgeons and another orange fish who’s name I can’t remember, these are both fish that were once wildly populous and thus were taken for granted, caught in ocean trawling and drag netting, these fish were considered to be so common that hundreds of thousands were caught and killed without remorse, it was not until much later did people realize that both species of fish had relatively long life spans, low spawn rates, and slow maturation rates. The species especially the latter one where decimated and to this day, the rippling effects of the brashness of human decision has impacted species countless times over. To see that how the marine wildlife around the NYC area has changed and stayed the same is yet another reminder while also showing that it is not yet too late, some actions and decisions have forever changed the local ecosystem, but all is not lost. 

In regards to “Who are the indigenous Ainu people of Japan?”, this article gives a basic explanation of the Ainu people are their struggle, I think this article makes me remember some of the darker parts of Japanese society, beyond their technological innovations, pop culture contributions, there are still many issues hiding in the dark. Xenophobia, racism (many individuals did not like that a previous miss Japan was half black and half Japanese and she herself stated that she was often bullied for her skin color in her youth), compensated dating, child pornography, and even supposed attempts to erase their wrongdoings in wars and murders past, the story of the Ainu is a yet another darker piece to a civilized society’s story and one that is more easily relatable as the Native Americans within the United States received, and continue to recent negatively biased treatment with many of them, and the Ainu in Japan, living in comparative squalor, the richness and legacy of their culture slowly wasting away in the face of restrictive and often two-faced administration.

Finally, in regards to the Wildlife Conservation Society article, I think the wide variety of things that the WCS is pretty clearly detailed in the article and through numerous statistics and analytics it’s pretty clear to see their commitment to their cause the positive impact that they have made and will continue to make.

Professor Ann Chen 

Carlo G 

Feb 18, 2019 

A Four-Century Retrospective of Marine Fauna and Fisheries Around New York City contains detailed information pertaining to the diversity of marine animals in NYC.  The article also reveals the impact on marine animal population caused by human preference on fish consumption over the course of time. It got me further intrigued because my home country, Indonesia, is basically a bunch of islands and that fish consumption is inevitable. However, many people still use a conventional fishing method that is harmful to not only marine life but also the ecosystem. They use a bomb instead of fishnet to capture fish. As a result, corrals are oftentimes damaged and long-term marine life is put in danger. And the decrease in marine population in this article is something that I can relate to.

Whereas an article by WCS provides more basic information pertaining to marine life and the damages that humankind has created; in a more straightforward way. Furthermore, the article also includes information about projects they’re currently working on. They’re spreading awareness regarding marine life through various projects that target people at a young age. I think it’s a smart move to target young people as their consistent attempts to preserve ocean can last long.

The Ainu: Beyond The Politics of Cultural Coexistence is basically about the indigenous people of Japan that was confronted with the cultural revolution. The way I understand this article is how the Ainu wants their cultures to remain and coexist with modernization instead of being eliminated.