Learn more about the Upcoming 2027 Community Deep Mapping Institute Here

The First bi-annual NEH Community Deep Mapping Symposium!
​The first bi-annual symposium is growing a community of practice by bringing together deep mapping scholars and practitioners from around the world to discuss and apply cutting edge community centered deep mapping methodologies to community centered deep maps. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about the Community Deep Mapping Institute Fellowship Program in 2027. A full schedule of events can be found below.

Missed the Symposium?

Digital Recordings:
2025 Fellow Presentations
Symposium Lightning Talks
Scoping Your Deep Map Workshop

Tuesday, September 29th

8:00-8:45am      Welcome Breakfast 

9:00-12:35pm    2025 Fellowship Cohort Presentations

  • Deep Mapping a Century of Wood Products in Sumter, SC, 1923-2023 (Jessica Elfenbein and Wright Kennedy, University of South Carolina)
  • From the Dust Bowl, to Picher, & Back Again: Our Journey from HGIS to Deep Mapping (Jackie Vadjunec and Todd Fagin, University of Oklahoma)
  • Building the Foundation for a Community-Based Deep Map in Casselton, ND (Angela Smith, University of North Dakota)
  • Beyond the Map: Anticipating Scale and Hyper Connectivity in the Spatial History of Charleston (Doug Rivet and Jim Newhard, College of Charleston)
  • Counter-Cartographies of Pauliceia: Community Mapping of the History of São Paulo (Luis Ferla, Universidade Federal de São Paulo)
  • Community-Based Participatory GIS and Deep Mapping in Dominica (Diane Wallman, University of South Florida)
  • Hidden Economies: A Spatial Analysis of Detroit’s Potomac Quarter (Sarah Pounders, Julie Julison, Mozelle Bowers, Wayne State University)

12:35-1:00pm       Lunch catered by Jeffrey Lampkins Country Boy Kitchen (Creamy Chicken Pasta, Creamy Shrimp Pasta, Garden of Eden Salad, Marvelous Meatballs, Desserts)

1:00-3:50pm         Symposium Project Lightning Talks

  • Mapping Japanese Landmarks in New York (Mac Gill, Digital Museum of the History of Japanese New York)
  • Atlas of Roman Enslaved Agency (Lindsay Holman, Cayleigh Fitzsimmons, Madison Sims, Jacksonville State University)
  • Envisioning a Queer Campus: Queer Spatial Imaginaries of a University Campus (Josh Wolf, Vanderbilt University) 
  • Climate Knowledge Collective: A Living Knowledge Hub through Deep Mapping (Peg Spitzer, Jamie Sommer, Victoria Pilato, Annabella Wiscovitch, Gen Tremblay, Leio Koga, State University of New York at Stony Brook)
  • Proactive or Reactive? Goupil & Cie in Antebellum New York: Deep Mapping an Emerging Art Market (Nubia Nurain Khan, Duke University)
  • Exploring Change in Human-Land Relations on the Northern Great Plains (Danielle Schmidt-Larios, Katherine J. Curtis, University of Wisconsin Madison)
  • Mapping Mobility: Using Community Geography and Storytelling to Advocate for Transportation Equity in Columbia, Missouri (Rikki Ascani, University of Missouri & Missourians for Responsible Transportation)
  • Building the Colonial Town (Léon Robichaud, Université de Sherbrooke)
  • Oak Bluffs Historic Highlands Archaeology Project (Jeffrey Burnett, Michigan State University)
  • Heimat: Sardinia: HErItage MATeriality of 20th-Century Sardinia (Alessandro Panetta, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche)
  • A Cultural Lens on “Food Deserts”: Rethinking Food Access for Just Food Futures by Mapping Ethnic Foodscapes (Zhijie ‘ZJ’ Zhou, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Yuqing Wang, Duke University)
  • Following the Water: Deep Mapping the Desaguadero River, Bolivia (Scott C. Smith, Franklin & Marshall College, Maribel Pérez Arias, The Stone Independent School, Adolfo E. Pérez Arias, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Jeremy Moss, Franklin & Marshall College)
  • The Sunken Garden Project: Deep Mapping Urban Renewal, Soil Histories, and Community Landscapes on Chicago’s West Side (Rebecca Graff, Lake Forest College, Catherine Fennell, Columbia University, Andrew Bauer, Stanford University, Marcus de la fleur, de la fleur LLC, Shemuel Israel, North Lawndale Greening Committee)
  • Virtual Faribault (Austin Mason, Carleton College, Dave Nichols, Jenna Nelson, Rice County Historical Society)
  • Mapping memories: stories of Õtautahi Christchurch (Hayden Cawte, Jessie Garland, Katharine Watson, Christchurch Archaeology Project)
  • Digital Stewardship of Indigenous Heritage: Mapping Waccamaw Cultural Landscapes (Sydney James, Arizona State University, Chief Cheryl Cail, Waccamaw Indian People)
  • Weaving Ways of Knowing the Mekong (Wisa Wisesjindawat-Fink, Michigan State University)
  • Tracking change in Rochester’s Baden-Ormond neighborhood (Mark Rice, St. John Fisher University)

4:00-6:00pm       Placemaking, Deep Mapping and the Wood Basket Deep Mapping Project - Sumter Tour with Drewry Penn (last general manager of Williams Furniture & Sumter Cabinet) & Kyle Kelly (City of Sumter)     

6:30pm                Buffet Dinner & Cash Bar - Gahnzalez 

Wednesday, September 30th

9:00-11:55am    Scoping Your Deep Map - Establishing partnerships, finding funding, access, processing & spatializing data, technological tools

12:00-1:20pm    Lunch catered by Jeffrey Lampkins Country Boy Kitchen (Yellow Rice, Miracle Mac ‘N Cheese, Good God Almighty Green Beans, Honey Fried Chicken, Baked Chicken, Rolls, Dessert)

1:30-2:30pm      2027 Community Deep Mapping Institute Fellowship Program
                     1:30pm     Exploring Institute Objectives, Schedule, Host Community, and Instructors
                     2:00pm     The 2027 Fellowship Application Process - Tools and Tips
        
3:00-6:00pm       Congaree National Park Tour - with Drewry Penn (last general manager of Williams Furniture & Sumter Cabinet) & John Grego, President of Friends of Congaree Swamp    

A Special Thank You to the Following for Supporting the Symposium

  • National Endowment for the Humanities
  • Sumter Economic Development & TheLINK
  • City of Sumter
  • Congaree National Park
  • Friends of Congaree Swamp
  • The History Center, McCausland College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Carolina
  • Center for Geospatial Research and Technology, Michigan Technological University
  • Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University
  • Department of Anthropology, Wayne State University

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Interested in becoming a 2027 NEH Community Deep Mapping Fellow?

Contact Us​