Reflecting on Mapping Freedom Week Four

- Let the research begin! (Photo by Kelan Amme)

Now that we are about halfway through the Mapping Freedom REU, I will continue to highlight some of the events from the week, my accomplishments, the new things I learned, and some instances that prevented me from doing my best work.

We began our week by hearing from Dr. Kayla Stan and learning about different ways mapping technologies are used. This includes ArcGIS and QGIS, two of the programs we will use during this REU. We discussed new ways to symbolize our data and different strategies for organizing and displaying our map layers. I could put these new features into practice by using the aggregation feature, which collects my points and labels them with a different number based on how close or far away I am (zoomed) on the map. I also learned how easy it is for QGIS to lose or unlink source data. I was moving my files around to organize them better when suddenly, most of my layers and sheets in QGIS had a red exclamation point next to them. I then remembered that I have to be careful since most GIS programs display their information based on where the data is linked.

Later in the day, we met with Dr. Joseph Peterson, a historian of modern France, imperialism, and religion and also a professor at USM, to discuss how to create and organize a CV, aka curriculum vitae. I enjoyed this time as I had not known much about a CV and its importance for applying to graduate school. It was also great to connect with Dr. Peterson and share thoughts about certain historical topics, trends, and institutions. Continuing, both Tuesday and Thursday had us following similar schedules, with us learning and working on the OWASP Top 10 topics in cybersecurity. While I understand why we should know about these topics, I struggled during some sessions. With my background being far from computer science, let alone cybersecurity, I found it to be challenging to try and attempt the labs that we worked on in class. I am always open to learning new things and new types of learning, but I was occasionally frustrated with some of the tasks/concepts we aimed to achieve. I know that all of these lessons are planned with our best interest in mind, so I am certainly not trying to bash the curriculum, but I just felt like I should share some of my feelings regarding the cybersecurity portion. I think that if we had worked on basic coding or similar work that translated closer to our project (at least to start), it might have felt less overwhelming. Regardless, I do appreciate the time that Dr. McGowan took to teach and share new avenues with us.

Throughout the rest of the week, we continued to learn more about GIS and ArcGIS Online, the program we will use to make our maps more interactive and visually appealing. I would say my biggest accomplishment/most exciting moment from the week was beginning my research by using the library at USM. I feel like we forget that libraries are even a thing and that they have a wealth of knowledge that is easier (in my opinion) to access than digital collections. Obviously, this depends on the subject matter you are researching, but I know that I enjoy flipping through a physical book more than a digital one. After finding two books in the USM library online catalog, I ventured up to the third floor to look for them. To my surprise, I found at least twelve books about the United States Colored Troops which I then proceeded to check out, much to the enjoyment of my friend Jaylin, who found it hilarious that I was carrying so many items up and down Cook Library (see picture below). I am currently skimming through the books to find any information relating to how the citizens and military officers (Union and Confederate) perceived the USCT during the Civil War. I have reviewed about five books already and plan to keep working over this break.

For my final two observations that prevented my best learning, I would say that both relate to the heat. It is scorching in Mississippi, and I am still not used to it in any shape or form. It just makes you not want to go outside, but it's ok. I'll continue to adapt. Lastly, our collab space gets warm during the day. It would be great if we could get a curtain or reflective sheet to hang in front of the window since it usually gets between 75-80 degrees in there.

This week was a good week overall! I am looking forward to continuing my research and discovering further details.

"Tell 'em to bring out the whole library!" (Photo by Jaylin Jones)