Bridging Knowledge and Power: GIS for Social Science Research

Background

At Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4) we have established several unique training opportunities for the Brown community. Our GIS Institute is geared towards graduate students and faculty. It is an intensive two-week agenda focused on managing, handling, and representing geographic data as well as exploratory and advanced spatial data analysis. Doctoral students who complete the Institute will become S4 Fellows (for more information on the Fellows program, click here).

Purpose

Through a mix of lectures, exercises, and faculty guided discussions the GIS institute provides a broad based multi-disciplinary introduction to spatial analysis and spatial data visualization.  Participants have the opportunity to build databases and skills that will be of immediate use in their research.  Applicants to the institute are asked to provide a short description of their topic, this description allows us to tailor the program to the needs of the participants.  Closely modeled on workshops organized by the Center for Spatially Integrated Social Sciences (CSISS) at UC Santa Barbara, S4 hopes the institute will be a continuing opportunity for the Brown research community to acquire skills that will help support their ongoing research activities.