Material Counter-Cartographies: (Un)Mapping (In)Justice, Social Complexities, and Re-Creative Reticulations

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Race(ing) Space: Critical Spatial Analyses and Counter-Cartographies in Communities of Color

Abstract

We draw on Mark Bradford’s use of artistic abstraction(s) to trouble normative and prohibitory approaches to the use of maps in education. Experimental materialism and consequential geographies guided our artistic/aesthetic counter-cartography of namesake schools. Ongoing research and discussion led us to inquire into the histories of the people, schools, demographics, and commemoration policy. We layered the findings with colored paper and topographical land/water features to express existing (spatial) relationships. Through counter-cartography we made connections to settler colonialism while also learning about policy changes and race-related politics among school board and community members. During this layered, temporal approach to (naming) history, we experienced contemporary educational issues with reduced pedagogical linearity and discuss the implications of counter-cartography on educational implementations of maps.

Authors

• Bretton A. Varga, California State University - Chico

• Vonzell Agosto, University of South Florida