Section 1 Course Introduction

[One] cannot understand social life without understanding the arrangements of particular social actors in particular social times and places…social facts are located.

Andrew Abbot (1997)

This class introduces both the theoretical and technical skills that constitute the growing field of Geographic Information Science (GISc). Techniques introduced include data cleaning and management, map production and cartography, and the manipulation of both tabular and spatial data. The course incorporates a wide variety of social, economic, health, urban, meteorological, and environmental data. These data are mapped at a variety of extents, from the City of St. Louis to the St. Louis Metropolitan region, Missouri, all United States counties, and all U.S. states.