A place to read

Since 2009, the Seine-Saint-Denis County Council has been backing “la Culture et l’Art au Collège (CAC)”. This project is based to a large extent on the presence in class for several weeks (40 hours) of an artist or scientist whose mission is to engage the students in a process of research and creation.

Contributors:
Cartographers, geographers

Project Manager:
Florise Pagès

Objectives:
Drawing a map means managing to assemble a mass of information into a single image. This project aims to link up in an interesting and practical way all the skills involved in mapmaking. Everything can be mapped, whether it’s far away or nearby, connected or separate, visible or invisible…

Workshops:
Mapped out
To familiarise the students with map-reading, the geographer sets out a wide range of examples of diverse forms and uses. This is also an opportunity to address the relationship between geography and cartography. In the digital age, what types of map do we have and what tools? When do we need maps these days? How have practices and subjects evolved?

What are we talking about?
The students discuss what they want to render visible, and choose a topic connected to an area: do they want to map the school’s musical tastes, the movements of boys and girls in the playground, the feelings in their town, dreams…? In groups, they gather existing information, and produce the necessary data using what they find on the internet, at school or at home. They collect figures, pictures, texts and statistics – all of which they must then sort and prioritise.

Geo-carto-grapher
Members of the Sciences Po Cartography Studio come into class to introduce the students to the fundamental notions of graphic semiology, and process the information gathered using software with which their data will be geo-referenced; together they choose a map background, configure the visualisation tools representing an order and differences, combine variables and colours and decide upon a title. Then, they write the key, noting the graphic modalities and sources used (title, author, date, etc.). With this finalised object, they can now interpret the geography of the trend portrayed and highlight connections that were previously imperceptible, define the resulting notions and thus activate the map.

(IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SCIENCES PO CARTOGRAPHY STUDIO)

Participating School:
- Réné Descartes, Le Blanc Mesnil

Photos: DAMIEN DELDICQUE, JÉRÔME AUBRY & ALEXANDRE SCHUBNEL, LABORATOIRE DE GÉOLOGIE DE L’ENS PARIS.