Each student will select a data visualization person, topic, theme, technology, etc. to thoroughly research and report on for the rest of the class. You will become an expert in this subject and explore some of the main ideas and concepts behind the research topic you’ve selected.
Some questions to think about:
You should bring supporting materials that will help the rest of the class understand and contextualize your subject in the form of images, quotes, videos, gifs, maps, code, etc. Create a PDF presentation (resolution 1280 x 720px) and save the file to the “Research Presentations” directory of the shared folder in Google Drive before your assigned week. Name your file using the scheme emailname_researchSubject.pdf.
Link videos or websites directly from the .pdf and be prepared to present on your subject for about 20 minutes. Prepare follow-up questions for the class that can punctuate the examples you show. You will be evaluated on how you describe the main concepts to your peers in adequate detail, how you connect the topic to other readings and discussions we’ve had in class, your supporting materials and the quality of your questions for the class within the given time frame.
Look over the potential topics listed below (or propose one of your own devising), then sign up for a topic and time-slot using this google doc.
Jacques Bertin
Oliver Byrne
W.E.B. Du Bois
Charles Joseph Minard
Otto Neurath
William Playfair
Mike Bostock / D3
Catalogtree
Muriel Cooper / VLW
Amanda Cox / Upshot
Nicholas Felton
Forensic Architecture
Ben Fry / Fathom / Processing
Tahir Hemphill
Mark Lombardi
Giorgia Lupi / Accurat
Lev Manovich
Cathy O’Neil
Hans Rosling / Gapminder
Jer Thorp / O.C.R.
Washington Post graphics dept.
Richard Saul Wurman