News Archive
Mapping the mappers – undoubtedly my best and most creative academic year
The final stage of a CIM postgraduate degree is the dissertation research project. This piece of independent research is an opportunity for students to bring together the skills, knowledge and methods they have developed in the first two terms of taught modules. CIM students can follow the theme of their postgraduate degree in their optional modules, or branch out, sculpting their own degree in relation to their interests and goals.
Maria Petrescu investigated collaborative mapping within Coventry’s OpenStreetMap community for her dissertation research. Maria studied the Big Data and Digital Futures MSc with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM) and the Warwick Q-Step centre. In addition to her core modules, Maria chose optional modules such as IM919 Urban Data, Theory and Methodology and IM921 Visualisation which are taken by students in the MSc in Urban Analytics and Visualisation, as well as auditing IM923 User Interface Cultures, with the MA in Digital Media and Culture. Maria also took advantage of ongoing research projects in CIM, related to Humanitarian Mapping, and helped establish the “Resilience Mapping” student society, in which students create digital maps of areas in need of humanitarian assistance.
We spoke to Maria about how her time at CIM allowed her to develop an innovative interdisciplinary research approach.