April 2007 Events in the GCMC

What's Happening in the GCMC? April 2007

A semester-long project came to completion in April 2007: 10 students studying at the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry finalized a project analyzing poverty in Muncie. The students were participating in "Voice and Vision: Poverty from the Inside Out," a seminar led by Eva Zygmunt-Fillwalk, assistant professor of elementary education. According the the Ball Center's webpage, the students are developing a radio series about individuals dealing with poverty in association with Indiana Public Radio and community partner TEAMwork for Quality Living. Angela Gibson, GIS Specialist, helped the class use GIS and census data to create maps for a special showcase of the project held on April 26 at the Cornerstone Center for the Arts.

Also in April, over 150 students from Geography 150 and Geography 101 classes visited the Geospatial Center & Map Collection for a class assignment called "Cities @ Work." The assignment was created by Carol Shears, assistant professor of geography, with assistance from Melissa Gentry of the GCMC. Each student analyzed maps about a U.S. city of their choice. The students used bird's-eye-view maps, historic and current street and topographic maps, and aerial photographs from the Map Collection to track urban development over time.

Over 200 students and staff also visited the GCMC during April to use the large-format plotter. Students from the College of Architecture & Planning were busy printing off their final drawings, and other students printed off posters assigned as a final project.

Students from many areas of study used the maps, atlases, GIS, and other resources of the GCMC during April: anthropology, natural resources and environmental management, geography, journalism, history, and geology. A researcher presenting for the Association for Lifelong Learners also used the GCMC, and Kent State University and Ohio University inquired about borrowing sets of maps from the Map Collection.

The GCMC also received large donations during the month of April and organized collections of World War II maps, Sidwell maps of South Bend, and historic nautical charts produced by the Nazis.

The GCMC is located on the second floor of Bracken Library, Ball State University.