Emma Tome Humanities and Social Science
Critical Cartography: Imagining and Articulating Spatial Identities in Alameda, California
Recent scholarship in social science is re-invigorating notions of ‘place’ as it relates to social process. My research asks: how do these notions help to explain or complicate the process of redevelopment at Alameda Point, on the site of the decommissioned naval air station? And how may a close study of one place illuminate the efficacy or inefficacy of these ways of thinking? Furthermore, how may we reconcile theoretical place and the ways place is explained though maps? To approach these questions, my research will involve a close study of historical maps of the former Alameda Naval Air Station, along with interviews and community mapping exercises. My hope is to ground a realm of critical thought in the reality of lived experience at the point.
Message To Sponsor
My interest in this project stems from my work for the Alameda Point Collaborative as a student cartographer, when I first began witnessing the material implications and complications of mapping. I'm tremendously grateful to have the opportunity to research so intensively. My SURF summer will invigorate both my personal academic curiosity, and my desire to deepen and broaden the stories maps tell; both in the way we make them, and in the way we read them.