Author Archives: Elizabeth Garrison

PRAXIS: School Shootings in America 1970 – Present

From the previous PRAXIS assignment, I wanted to use a data set that is much larger and has a greater impact on the feeling when you visualize it. I chose the data set of school shootings in America (the land of the free), not only did it hit my pinpoints (unfortunately) but it has and forever will be an important topic for centuries. The data set from K-12 School Shooting Database was kind enough to have the data open upon request.

Listed below is my thought process on all visualizations:

  • For all visualizations, I wanted the primary color orange which is the universal gun awareness color (orange crossed ribbon). The pie chart was the only outlier and I chose a rainbow color palette purposefully to signify the oxymoron of “Schools being a safe place”.
  • One or two median visualizations are required for others to understand the data set if first glancing at it + one/two visualizations that I found interesting and wanted to bring attention to.
  • Make sure to include the Null to show that there will always be inconsistencies with data no matter how great it is.
  • There was a vast difference in the quarter that the school shootings took place. Following is the total number of incidents per quarter from 1970-2022; Fall (718), Winter (586), Spring (556), Summer (252), and Null (11). The highest amount of incidents took place during the Fall which made me think of the term “Holiday Depression” does that have something to do with the incidents? (I wish there was a column on the mental illnesses that the shooters had if any)
  • My closing thoughts: My condolences to those (victims and families) that had to go through any of these situations. Thank you to the K-12 School Shooting Database for inputting all of these incidents for others to represent and bring awareness to these matters; if anyone would like to donate to the Database you can through here. If you have any comments or thoughts please share them.
    Header: Criminal aiming gun camera, threatening burglar at victim istock photo

PRAXIS Mapping: Manhattan Restrooms

Whether you are a tourist or a resident of NYC we can all relate to one thing- we all have to use the restrooms eventually. I wanted to choose to map something helpful and that everyone can use no matter the level of technological variance. In which I chose to map unknown and or really nice restrooms, for the sake of accessibility, I have limited it to only Manhattan and 23 restrooms. All of these restrooms are chosen from Got2GoNYC which is created by Teddy Siegel.

The Process:

For the actual mapping component, I chose the program Tableau as I am familiar with this program and I wanted to ensure a “Tooltip” is visible. The information that is visible in the “Tooltip” is the restroom name (font size 15), the location, ADA accessibility, details (lock code, amenities, etc), and Gender(s) listed after (font size 10). The background is to be visible via streets and public transportation because if I used a modernistic approach many would use it as a list instead of a map. The markers (scaled larger) originally were blue but I decided to make it an opaque black for visibility and for it not to be confused with public transportation.

In the future, I hope to map more restrooms for different boroughs but would encounter difficulties with overlapping markers, restoration of data, etc. It would also be interesting on how many restrooms are still available from 1980-2022.

Banner from: istockphoto

Week 1: Digital Humanities and Art

In my opinion, there has and never will be a true “definition” of DH as it in itself is an art and with art, there are many passages and pathways. However, I do think it can help captivate audiences and bring not only an opportunity but knowledge to those universally. For example, The Digital Black Atlantic brings a more “inclusive term “digital Black Atlantic” into the light from the very root, Digital Humanities. But, what is the “digital Black Atlantic”? Well, Josephs and Risam (2021) beautifully defines it by saying,

“In the space between “digital” and “humanities” where Blackness and technology meet, the digital Black Atlantic pushes back against the ways that technologies have historically been and continue to be used to disempower Black communities (and also against the dominance of such narratives) to instead emphasize how Black communities have taken advantage of the affordances of technology to assert their humanity, histories, knowledges, and expertise.”

Josephs and Risam (The Digital Black Atlantic 2021)

This leads me to one project that captivated me, Colored Conventions Project. Representing past and present socio-economic and racial issues, in which I feel that DH can have a strong representation in both. This representation being, showing and giving knowledge to others about issues whether it be nationally or universally. Uncovering “buried history” is not only important for the families that had to live through it but for the future.

Relating this to my current (and many) definition(s) of DH, art can be constructive, knowledgeable, collaborative, and even political etc. Art signifies history more than we know, and bubbles important issues for all to see. The “digital Black Atlantic” unites all from accross the world to understand not only American Black history but brings representation to the bigger moral dillemma of race. The CCP unites DH and their organization to bring “scholarly and community research project dedicated to bringing the seven decades-long history of nineteenth-century Black organizing to digital life.” by using “innovative, inclusive models and partnerships to locate, transcribe, and archive the documentary record related to this nearly forgotten history and to curate digital exhibits that highlight its stories, events and themes.” (CCP 2020).

I have special reservations… By: Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2015)
Source: invaluable.com