Alternative Map Critique Response

Creating an alternative map on Google Earth was likely the most productive and personal project for me that we have done this semester. I enjoyed being able to produce a navigable online space of what is truely my home in the world that can be accessed and perused by other students at the college, as well as my friends and family members. The tools that Google Earth provides allowed me to fully customize the map that it would reflect the unique narrative and exploration I wanted to provide for viewers (even if I was unaware of some of the tool that could have potentially enhanced this personalized and directed view of campus at the time of making the map.)

After transfering to St. Mary's, the campus has been the one place on Earth I can truely call home at this point in my life, and there are a number of spaces that hold memories and emotions for me that are not reflected in the actual environment. It was fulfilling to be able to locate and present my memories in a visual way on a space that reflected the reality of the geography of campus as a means of digitally imprinting my impact onto this campus. I was also particuarilly thrilled to see how my own experiences and places of importance overlapped with the sites chosen by other students in the class - it allowed me to more fully realize the history and presence each site on campus has that cannot be realized in merely viewing photographs or looking at the spaces from afar.

Google Earth does have its limits, but I appreciate the online interactive aspect of the maps that we created for this project. Rather than only having my own experiences imprinted onto the space, Google Earth provides a venue through which spaces and projects can be overlapped in order to showcases the enormity of influence this environment has that cannot simply be represented on a state or governmental map.