Mapping Pathways to Social Change
Maps and data visualizations don’t just describe the world — they shape what we believe is possible in it. This class moves through three arcs: learning to see and tell stories with data, mapping the people and communities behind it, and putting both to work in practice.
Over the semester each student develops a data visualization that helps a community they care about create the change they want to see — gathered with that community, tested with real stakeholders, and delivered in the medium its audience will actually encounter.
Part 1: Data
Week 1
Sep 10
Welcome, Intro & Maps
Lecture
- Welcome: Who are you? Who are we? Where are you going? Where are we going?
- Introduction: What is a map? What is data visualization?
- The semester arc: from mapping what is, to visualizing the change you want to make (final project preview)
In Class
- Find maps that resonate with you. (Online and in books available in class)
Assignment
- Draw a map of your neighborhood. Go on a 20 minute walk. Talk to 1 person.
Week 2
Sep 17
Making Data Talk
Lecture
- Making Data Talk, principles of data visualization
In Class
- Discuss and review neighborhood maps technique
- What do you want to do after school?
- Fill in IKIGAI
Assignment
- Visualize a system from your neighborhood
Week 3
Sep 24
Data Stories
Lecture
- Visual data with impact
In Class
- Deconstruct data stories that moved people to act — what made them work? (e.g. Du Bois portraits, Dear Data, Mona Chalabi)
- Data sketching: quick hand-drawn drafts from one small dataset
Assignment
- Write and visualize a manifesto on the change you want to create
Week 4
Oct 1
Systems in Data
Lecture
- Good design, typography, grids, design systems
In Class
- Review and discuss manifestos
- Introduce the final project: a data visualization that helps a community you care about create the change they want to see
- Brainstorm and discuss ideas for final project
Assignment
- Visualize the change you want to create and for who
Part 2: People
Week 5
Oct 8
Community as a Map
Lecture
- Community Canvas, mapping collectively
In Class
- Review change visualizations
Assignment
- Identify and map participants and stakeholders in your change initiative
- Visualize community hierarchy, relationships and networks
Week 6
Oct 15
Participation & Conversation
Lecture
- Listening as data collection: interviews, surveys, observation, and participatory data
- Ethics of community data: consent, representation, avoiding extraction
In Class
- Conversation and participation games
- Practice listening techniques and inclusive facilitation
Assignment
- Create a plan to interview and map stakeholders and participants.
- Create strategies to ensure everyone can participate meaningfully
- Decide what data you'll gather in your sessions and how you'll record it
Week 7
Oct 22
Design Methods & Facilitation
In Class
- Tools and processes demo
- Practice co-design sessions and facilitation
- Learn to design with communities rather than for them
Assignment
- Reach out and schedule a community mapping session
- Create roadmap with milestones and success metrics
Week 8
Oct 29
Community Ownership
In Class
- Visiting Guest
- Discussion: who owns community data and the stories told with it?
Assignment
- Facilitate community mapping sessions
- Document process and gather feedback
Part 3: Practice
Week 9
Nov 5
Making Change
In Class
- Review community mapping sessions
- Map dependencies and risks for change initiatives
Assignment
- Compile and structure the data from your mapping sessions into a working dataset
- Write your final project brief: the change, the audience, the data, and where the visualization will live
Week 10
Nov 12
Testing Ideas
In Class
- Formats in the wild: posters, zines, murals, dashboards, installations, social posts — matching medium to audience
- Pin-up: first visualization sketches, peer critique
Assignment
- Prototype 2–3 versions of your final visualization
- Test them with real stakeholders: what do they understand? What moves them to act?
- Document reactions and feedback
Week 11
Nov 19
Iteration & Feedback
In Class
- Celebrate failures as learning opportunities
- Iterate approaches based on community feedback
Assignment
- Revise your visualization based on feedback; document what changed and why
Week 12
Nov 26
Thanksgiving
No class
Assignment
- Optional: collect a tiny dataset over the break (conversations, meals, moments of gratitude) and hand-draw it, Dear Data–style
Week 13
Dec 3
Scaling Impact
In Class
- Visiting Guest
- Activation strategies: getting your visualization in front of the people who can act on it
Assignment
- Create a distribution plan: where, when, and how your visualization reaches its audience
Week 14
Dec 10
Sustainability
In Class
- Iterate on interventions
- Handoff: how your community can own, update, and keep using the work after the semester ends
- Document intervention results and prepare presentations
Assignment
- Final production: finish your visualization in the medium your audience will actually encounter
Week 15
Dec 17
Final Presentations
In Class
- Present projects to community partners and guest critics
- Share reflections on mapping pathways to social change
- Submit final documentation with iterations and community feedback
- Deliverables: the visualization itself, the dataset behind it, and evidence of stakeholder response