CIS Department Talk - December 1, 2009

Design Conversations

Speaker:	Sarah Williams, Director of Columbia's Spatial Information Design Lab (SIDL)
Topic:	Spatial Data Traces "Data that is left behind in the Urban Environment"
Date:	December 1, 2009 at 6:30PM
Place:	Lincoln Center Campus, Room SL24L

Ms. Williams specializes in the representation of digital information/mapping and ecological design & planning. Her current research focuses on the intersection of technology and the urban realm, with a particular view on using mobile computing to help better understand urban spaces.

Her talk will feature current projects and development at the Spatial information Design Lab, as well as a presentation of one of her recent projects, "Million Dollar Blocks" that was shown in the exhibition "Design and the Elastic Mind" at MoMA.

This project visually mapped out where in Brooklyn people lived before they were convicted and sent to prison. The map, which was contrasted of a map showing where crimes tend to occur, was used to try to find ways to reduce recidivism. Million dollar blocks referred to the 11 blocks in Brooklyn where more than $1,000,000 was spent on sending people to prison in 2003. While the analysis is useful, the images provoke conversations that help resolve issues at the community level.

RSVP and for more information : abby110@verizon.net, dlyons@cis.fordham.edu