Calvin Young

Writ 2
Wilson
11/1/15
WP2
Nowadays everyone has a smartphone and can easily pull up a map to find a location,
which eliminates the need of having to carrying a physical map. People often overlook how
convenient it is to have a map at their fingertips. Unfortunately digital maps have their own set
of drawbacks that are not present on a real map. The geography department at UCSB intends to
fix these misconceptions about maps through the visions they hope students will achieve. By
doing so, I will argue that the vision of the geography department creates conventions that allow
students to see maps in a whole new way.
The department of Geography at UCSB has three points of view that it holds for all
students within the major. The first one being to build a community for creating knowledge about
the planet and the animals that live on it. They also believe in discovering new methods in
furthering the development of geographical science. As well as, integrating aspects from
different fields of science to better understand spatio-temporal dynamics. Studying geography is
more than just learning how to read or draw maps in an educated way. Maps are simply tools for
geographers to use. What is important is making new discoveries in the field so geographers can
make better maps. The classroom setting I am taking, Geog w12, reflects the visions of the
department in several ways. The professor expect his students to learn how to use special
geographic software to improve our spatial reasoning skills. Which follows the vision of using

new methods to further develop geographical science. By using the latest in developed software
it will enable us to make insightful analysis of the maps we examine with the information we are
given. Geog w12 also mirrors the departments ideal of building up a community by having an
expert of the field pass on their knowledge to beginners of the major. In return, hope that
students will use the knowledge obtained to expand their understanding about maps.
Beginning with the first piece of text that share similar visions to the department of
geography, the text, by Clarke, comes from an academic journals and deals with solving the
mystery of the worlds oldest map. One unique style of writing found in the text is that the author
adds context relating to the history of the location of the theorized oldest map. Clarke takes part
of the readers time to introduce a candidate for the titles of worlds oldest map explaining,
This siteoccupied from 9500 to 7700 years ago, covering the critical transition to agriculture
and domesticated animals (Clarke, 138). This follows our schools vision of integrating
different sciences into geography. By including the date such as 9500 to 7700 years ago of
when the map was drawn we can examine history around the time it was drawn and who used it,
which brings in ideas of other sciences to answer these questions. Another writing convention in
the text is the authors questioning of anothers idea of whether It was appropriate to label some
drawings as a map or not. The author focuses his attention to the words of Meece and explains
why he thinks she is wrong, While Meece acknowledges that the development of map-making
was significantI not only dispute this assertion, I argue that maps (Clarke, 139). The
author makes a counter arguement here to explain that Meece is wrong about her assumptions
that no map is older than the one she thinks she is examining. However Clarke argues that he
can prove her wrong, a bold statement from two experts within similar fields. A convention is
formed, that we should question the validity of experts in the field. Fitting into the ideals, readers

from this community gain new knowledge as to what can be considered the oldest map in the
world. Near the end Clark adds in a section explaining to readers why they should care about
maps. Thus another convention is born, one that sparks new knowledge to old and new readers. It
might seem strange to add in a section to explain to readers why they should care when most of
the audience is already familiar with the subject, but the author includes it to fix any false
knowledge readers had to why we need maps, which builds on the vision the department has on
creating a community for creating new knowledge.
The other text that reflects the views of our department is a journal titled Do Maps Make
Geography? Part 1: Redlining, Planned Shrinkage, and the Places of Decline. A writing
convention the author uses is reading between the lines to draw out information that was hidden.
Aalbers does so, by making a point that, we should be referring to the practice of mapping
rather than merely to the people who make maps (Aalbers, 532). In a previous line Aalbers
mentions a quote said by another author, The problem was not the map per se, but the bad
things people did with maps (Aalbers, 530). By looking over the quote from one author Aalbers
realizes that we should ignore the people because they are the bad ones who misuse maps,
but put our attention on how we can use a map in a good way. Similar to the vision of finding
new methods to further development of geographical science, the author believes in finding a
way to use maps that is not easily abused by someone with bad intentions. The author also uses
his writing to critique the ideas of other peoples opinion on maps. For example, the authors
assessment on the idea of maps being inscriptions or representations he argues, the key to
deconstruct mapping is that maps are both (Aalbers, 531). By judging the words of others the
author is adding new revolutionary ideas to the field of study. Aalbers includes in his writing
detailed descriptions about the map images he is using in his text. Using the map of Baltimore,

Aalbers describes, inner-city neighborhoods surrounding the central business districts are
colored red (Aalbers, 536). By clearly explaining the map with words such as red the
author shows readers where everything is when he refers to them later on in his writing. These
helpful details can give readers a mental image of what the location in the map might be like. By
viewing both text from different angles we can combine them to find their similarities.
Looking at these two text side by side they are closely similar to one another. For starters,
both text each examine the background history of the map they are discussing. Whether it to be
to inform readers about the age a map was used in or what certain symbols or colors mean on a
map. Both writers try to apply different sciences through the background of map, which shows
how this convention conveys the visions of our geography department. Another convention these
two texts have in common is questioning an authority figure to their statement of knowledge.
The author realize that not everyone has the same interpretations, but are quick to identify flaws
in the analysis another person makes, so to further convince readers that what they are reading is
true and knowledgeable. Unlike Clarkes text, Aalbers treats maps as the secondary subject and
focuses his main topic on the activitys happening within the borders of the map. Pertaining to
the departments vision, Aalbers uses a new way of looking at maps, whereby not treating them
as the focus, but as something that information can be drawn from. On the other hand Clarke,
focuses more on the details printed on the map, and determining the accuracy of the map. Maps
cannot be defined with a single definition. Instead would be more appropriate to create a
definition that best fits the argument. Just like in the second text, the first text also includes
descriptive notes to help readers clearly understand how to use the map and what the author
intends to use the map for.

I will know discuss the rhetorical conventions taken from my GeogW12 course. Citing
from my PB2C when lecture started the first detail I noticed was the amount of explaining that
happened in the course. The TA, a credible source to the subject, used the time to explain to
everyone specifically what we needed to know and do to be successful in that days lab. In my PB
I mention the word dead reckoning, most of the students did not know what the word was and
how it was used. Our TA set on providing everyone with the right answer told us all a definition
that we believed to be true, because everyone trust our TA. At the end of the lecture the TA
would ask to see if any students had questions or concerns before starting on the lab. Appealing
to our concerns, The TA ensured that everyone understood what the instructions where and
removed any doubts student had. Looking back at PB2C, everyone was given a compass and
allowed to create a route to measure on a map. Since geography is closely related to maps it is
important in the course we get some field experience, but before we were let free our TA being
an expert on how to use field equipment demonstrated to the class how to properly use the tools.
All these conventions closely relate to the goals set forth by the department.
Both text and the observations from my GeogW12 class in some way followed the vision
the geography department at UCSB has. To build a community for creating new knowledge, the
text accomplish this task by offering new ideas to areas in the field we might have or have not
known before, but also pulls reader into questioning ideas of some people over others. The class
manages the same feat by educating students with various methods and ideologies practiced in
the field of geography. Not only does the department aim to strengthen the community but also
create new methods to study geographical science. Within the classroom students are introduced
to new kinds of software that help with labs, moreover the text conceive of their own methods on
how maps can be studied and utilized with the field. The final vision being to include other fields

of science to further improve geography. Both the classroom setting and text cover this part
through applying math skills within the classroom to help estimate distance from one location to
another. While in the text they provide historical scientific ranging from estimations have the age
of a map to the statistical analysis taken from a map.
In general the vision of the geography department at UCSB revolves around three main
goals, building a community for creating knowledge, discovering new methods in the name of
geographical science, and integrating aspects from different fields of science. By looking closely
at the two text Written by Clarke and Aalbers, we find traces of the ideas the department holds
dear within their writing which coincides with the practices within the Geog W12 classroom.

Works Cited
Aalbers, Manuel B. "Do Maps Make Geography? Part 1: Redlining, Planned Shrinkage, and the
Places of Decline." ACME. Web.
Clarke, Keith C. "What Is the Worlds Oldest Map?" The Cartographic Journal 50.2 (2013):
136-43. Web.
"Vision Statement." UC Geography. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2015. <http://geog.ucsb.edu/visionstatement/>.