The Integration of GIS-Based Information Mapping into an Ethnohistorical Seminar

Abstract

A GIS-based project constructing a digital, interactive map of the Native American experience served as a useful tool for creating student ownership of the learning process in an undergraduate seminar on the indigenous cultures of the Americas. Student researchers collected primary documents, linguistic data, maps and other images, bibliographic resources, links to relevant web resources, and brief encyclopedia-style essays. The information was then integrated into a GIS dataset for use with ArcMap software, with the ultimate goal of compiling a digital resource that would be refined and expanded by future waves of students in this course.