The
Communication and Information Science Building The Zimmerman School
of Advertising and Ma$$ Communication$ Building
The
question of where to begin was surprisingly difficult to answer.Afterall,
everything I've put on my map has been chosen, privileged above that
which isn't on the map. The things I chose to represent in a crude
pencil drawing reflect, in a way, the spaces/places I value in my
surrounding area. What does this representation mean for the way I
behave and feel about these places, and how do they represent an
experience of a wider place (say, the city of Tampa) that would be
different from others? How will designating the University of South
Florida, and the building that houses the Department of Communication
in particular as a starting place effect the rest of my "journey?"
Perhaps I'll have an answer when I arrive at my final location,
wherever that may end up being.
In their discussion of the entry of
performance into narrative studies, Peterson and Langellier
(2006) note that narrative is both a "making and a doing." We
make narratives through observing their various elements, and
narratives can be understood as being done through lived
experiences. This is an interesting thing to consider,
particularly as it may apply to the study of "community."
Anthony Cohen points out the common and everyday deployment
of "community" may be different than the ways in which it is
considered by
scholars (1985). In this semester's "Communication and
Community" course that happened right here in this building,
we discussed, debated, grappled, struggled, and thoroughly
considered community as we sought to make it. In the
occasional meta-moment, we discussed our community that
discusses community. We talked about theoretical and applied
notions of community and related concepts such as space and
place as we also considered our own placement within those
discussions.
Rather than write a paper, I've decided
to examine my own doing of space and place, while exploring and
extending some of the concepts from class through a map. This map, hand
drawn and then digitally scanned and coded as part of a website, is on
the surface a map of various locations in the area north of Tampa.
However, it could easily have been a mindmap of locations of ideas.
Approaching my inquiry this way will allow me to explore through
creation. It is both a narrative of ideas, and a performance of and
through space. Each entry on the map will correspond with something I
have written at that location. While each can certainly stand alone,
the point of this is not to have a collection of small essays, but
rather a series of entries that inform a larger experiment that
reflects both my own experiences as well as scholarship I have
encountered.
In using this
format, I am departing from the typical norm representing academic
scholarship. My goal is to explore not only the physical space of my
surroundings, but also the space of ideas. Further, I invite the reader
to follow along to each location, though, save for this start, there is
no set order. Not all locations are physical ones. Part of my concern
here is with boundaries, including that of the embodied and virtual,
hence the physical drawing (please excuse my meager artistic ability)
placed in a digital space holding a sort of travelogue or
choose-your-own-adventure of ideas linked to physical spaces. Movement
here is key.
Photo by Michelle Dye, Tampa Tribune Online, March 9th, 2015
