Schedule

//What is information visualization and what is at stake?//
 * Week 1 | Sept 8th**
 * Introduction to information visualization**

Required reading: Paola Antonelli - [|"States of Design 01: Visualization"] in Domus Recommended Reading: //The Information Design Handbook:// A need for Information Design, Information Design Defined (Ch. 1&2)

//How does information visualization extend out of traditional graphic design and visual communication?//
 * Week 2 | Sept. 15th**
 * A brief history of visualization**

Required reading: Edward Tufte "Graphical Practice" in //The Visual Display of Quantiative Information// (pg. 13-51) [|PDF] Stephen Wolfram - [|"Advance of the Data Civilization: A Timeline"] //Visualize This//: Telling Stories With Data (Ch. 1)

Recommended Reading: //The Information Design Handbook//: ID History (Ch. 3) Case Study: //The Minard Map//

//What is data? What are the protocols and common formats we will encounter in working with it?//
 * Week 3 | Sept. 22nd**
 * Handling data**

Required reading: David Levy - "Meditation on a Receipt" in //Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in a Digital Age// (pg. 7-20) [|PDF] Alan Liu - "Transcendental Data: Toward a Cultural History and Aesthetics of the New Encoded Discourse" in //Local Transcendence// (pg 209-236) [|PDF] //Visualize This//: Handling Data (Ch. 2)

Recommended Reading: //The Information Design Handbook//: Communication Principles for ID (Ch. 5) Case Study: //Gapminder// Lab: Building a rudimentary data scraper (//Visualize This// Ch. 2) – Optional (I have decided it would not be a good idea to inflict python on the group but if anyone wants to take a stab at this on their own, they can – I will be posting a tutorial using an alternate, more straightforward web-based workflow in the coming weeks)

//What are popular tools for visualization? How do you choose the right tool/platform for the job?// Guest Speaker: [|William J. Turkel]
 * Week 4 | Sept 29th**
 * Tools & techniques**

Required reading: //"The encyclopaedic fragementation of knowledge as theatre" (Hannah Hurtzig interview) in Designing Universal Knowledge// (pg. 128-133) [|PDF] //Visualize This//: Choosing Tools to Visualize Data (Ch. 3)

Recommended Reading: //The Information Design Handbook//: Aesthetic Principles for ID (Ch. 6) Lab: Visualization tool survey I

//What are some common approaches to representing time in information design?//
 * Week 5 | Oct. 6th**
 * Timelines**

Required reading: "The surge of simplicity in a complex world" (Markus Frenzi interview) in //Designing Universal Knowledge// (pg. 221-228) [|PDF] //Visualize This//: Visualizing Patterns over Time (Ch. 4) Case Study: //Feltron Annual Report// Lab: Basic graphing in R (//Visualize This// Ch. 4)

//How do we create coherent maps of networks?// Design pin-up: 21st century baseball card
 * Week 6 | Oct. 13th**
 * Visualizing networks**

Required reading: Manuel Lima - "Decoding Networks" in //Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information// (pg. 72-95) [|PDF] //Visualize This:// Visualizing Relationships (Ch. 6) Recommended Reading: //The Information Design Handbook//: Case Studies: Understand (Ch. 9) Case Study: //Cascade// Seminars: Student presentations Lab: Intermediate graphing in R (//Visualize This// Ch. 6)

//How might we move 'beyond the screen' and use data to drive creative expression?//
 * Week 7 | Oct. 20th**
 * Performative data**

Required reading: Mitchell Whitelaw - [|"Art Against Information: Case Studies in Data Practice"] in //Fibreculture// //Visualize This//: Spotting Differences (Ch. 7) Case Study: //Stock Market Skirt// Seminars: Student presentations Lab: Heat maps, star charts & parallel coordinate plots (//Visualize This// Ch. 7)

//Where does visualization stop and cartography begin? How do we map events and relationships spatially?//
 * Week 8 | Oct. 27th**
 * Spatial Relationships**

Required reading: Mark Monmonier - "Maps for Political Propaganda" in //How to Lie with Maps// (pg. 87-112) [|PDF] Jeremy Crampton - "What is Critical Cartography and GIS?" in //Mapping// (pg. 39-48) [|PDF] //Visualize This//: Visualizing Spatial Relationships (Ch. 8)

Recommended Reading: //The Information Design Handbook//: Case Studies: Locate (Ch. 7) Ken Garland - //Mr. Beck's Underground Map// (pg. 7-49) [|PDF I]/[|II] Case Study: //Million Dollar Blocks//, OpenStreetMap 101

Seminars: Student presentations Lab: Plotting points, lines and regions (//Visualize This// Ch. 8)

//What constitutes good information design?// Case study due
 * Week 9 | Nov. 3rd**
 * Design - best practices**

Required reading: Sara Diamond [|"Lenticular Galaxies: The Polyvalent Aesthetics of Data Visualization"] in //CTheory// Alan Liu - "Information is Style" in //The Laws of Cool// (pg. 195-230) [|PDF] //Visualize This//: Designing with a Purpose (Ch. 9) Case Study: //On the Origin of Species: The Preservation of Favoured Traces// Lab: Visualization tool survey II

//How are massive datasets changing scholarship? How might 'open' data change our habits and civic engagement?//
 * Week 10 | Nov. 10th**
 * Big data/open data**

Required reading: Lev Manovich - "What is Visualization?" [|PDF] Fabien Girardin - [|"Data City: A Text for Visual Complexity, the book"] Case Study: Cultural Analytics Lab: Final project work session

//What are the similarities between visualization and journalism?//
 * Week 11 | Nov. 17th**
 * Data journalism, real time informatics**

Required reading: Ian Bogost, Simon Ferrari & Bobby Schweizer - "Infographics" in //Newsgames// (pg. 35-60) [|PDF] Case Study: Selection of work from the New York Times Graphics Department Lab: Final project work session

**Design Pin-up: Data visualization (final projects)** //The group will pin up/project final assignments and critique the body of work that has been produced.//
 * Week 12 | Nov. 24th**