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2025 Community Deep Mapping Institute |
From Theory to Practice
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The purpose of the 2025 Community Deep Mapping Institute was to bridge the gap between theoretical frameworks and applied scholarship within the growing field of deep mapping. The institute aimed to push the field beyond discussion, empowering fellows to construct functional deep maps that serve their communities. 1,086 applications were received from around the world. Out of the vast pool of impressive applicants, nine deep mapping projects were selected to make up the inaugural cohort of fellows. |
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Methodological Foundations
Deep mapping fellows met virtually on a monthly basis throughout the year to build a deep mapping tool kit that could be applied broadly to all projects. This comprehensive virtual curriculum for these workshops, developed by the Community Deep Mapping team of Directors, created a shared understanding of digital humanities and geospatial tools, community engagement strategies, and ethical guidelines for deep mapping practice. A full list of the virtual workshops can be found on the NEH CDMI 2025 Schedule webpage.
Coming Together
From July 10th through the 16th deep mapping fellows met in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula for an immersive experience. Fellows stayed in the historic Laurium Manor Inn, recently rated the nation’s third best historical bed & breakfast by Newsweek, and were able to connect with the Keweenaw National Historical Park and their 23 official heritage site partners many of whom have helped create the Keweenaw Time Traveler and use it to develop exhibitions and public programming. Days were filled with a combination of lectures, discussions, and training sessions taking place in Michigan Technological University's Geospatial Research Facility. During their time in the Keweenaw fellows had the opportunity to begin building their deep mapping protypes in a collaborative and supportive environment. For a full list of events check out the Immersive In-Person Institute Program webpage.
Future Directions
To continue to build the community of deep mapping practitioners the NEH Community Deep Mapping Institute fellows and directors are sponsoring the 2026 Deep Mapping Symposium. The symposium will take place September 29th-30th in Sumter South Carolina, with virtual attendance options available. The symposium will bring together scholars, professionals and students from a wide range of backgrounds and experience who are invested in the practice of Deep Mapping. Symposium attendees will be able to connect with deep mapping practitioners from around the world, explore new approaches to deep mapping using cutting edge public engagement and geospatial methodologies, and share their own ideas and contributions to the field of deep mapping. Attendees will have the chance to share their project plans and approaches with current CDMI fellows and institute directors giving them the opportunity to refine their project scope and plans.
Apply to attend Here! |
To further our aim of expanding the scope and practice of deep mapping by integrating public-facing, transdisciplinary scholarship into the spatial humanities institute fellows and directors have begun to share our work with the academic community and the broader public. The foundations of deep mapping practice developed during the 2025 institute have been shared out by participants at a number of academic conferences. Institute participants have shared their work at The International Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage Congress (Aug. 25th-30th, Kiruna, Sweden), the 50th Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association (Nov. 20th-23rd - Chicago Ill.) and the Society for Historical and Underwater Archeology (Jan. 7th-10th, Detroit Mi.). Fellows also plan to present their work at conferences around the world in 2026 including the American Association for State and Local History and the National Council on Public History (Sept. 16th-19th, Providence RI), the Spatial Humanities conference (Sept. 23rd-25th, Braga Portugal), and the Social Science History Association's annual conference (Nov. 19th-22nd, Atlanta, Ga.).
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