Andy Trinh

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Myhill, Nova

Second Advisor

Roy, Tania

Area of Concentration

Computer Science, English

Abstract

Crowdsourced neogeography and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) applications have become popular in the realm of data aggregation, crisis management, and public policy advocacy, but its use for narrative storymapping is only now steadily increasing. New College, which has always had a complicated history, is in a unique period for alumni to share the impact New College has had on their life with other generations of alumni. 4Winds Map provides a storymapping platform to share stories in an archival and accessible manner. Research regarding design practices of data-based VGI applications is readily available, but methodology considerations of community storymapping VGI applications have been seldom discussed. The implementation, technology used, and features of 4Winds Map are detailed. This thesis additionally addresses VGI storymapping within the context of literary geography and examines 4Winds Map’s qualities using geocriticism. While neogeography and geocriticism are well-researched, combinatory analysis has remained largely unexplored. Postmodern formulations of space that 4Winds Map may impress onto New College and its alumni émigré is interrogated using a comparative analysis of other works such as Ian Gregory and David Cooper’s “Mapping the Lakes”, Rebecca Solnit’s Infinite Cities series, and Lucas LaRochelle ‘s Queering the Map.

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