The project I chose is “Mappng Jewish LA“. The project aims to inspire new research, teaching, and community engagement by facilitating access to archives through multimodal digital exhibitions curated by leading scholars. UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies created this project, and scholars and students can upload their articles and visualizations if it relates to the Los Angeles Jewish community. Two scholars who have uploaded exhibitions to the project are Caroline Luce, a historian specializing in Jewish studies and digital humanities, and Karen Wilson, a current historian and former Research Fellow at the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies.
One exhibition that involves a map is titled “On The Map,” which displays the migration and development of Jewish Communities in Los Angeles since the mid-nineteenth century. The map is historical, and it updates with each passing century. The use of coloring to differentiate each branch of the Jewish Community was extremely helpful in understanding the changes. I do not think that there are specific research questions this exhibition aims to answer. Instead, it visually displays the history of Jewish communities, and it is up to the viewer to learn and develop questions. The software used to present the map is “Scalar”; I can tell because it is credited at the bottom of the website.
I like the website’s design very much, and I think it has the perfect balance of text and visuals to catch the reader’s attention. Some functional affordances are the different pages for scholar exhibitions and student exhibitions. A visual affordance is the spacing and simplicity of colors on the website. After viewing several projects, I think all the visualizations are done well. They are all visually appealing, and every part added to the visualizations has a purpose. Ultimately, I am satisfied with my choice, and I have learned a lot about the history of Jewish LA.
