Name: Mapping What We Have: Community Asset Mapping as Visual Literacy and Place-Based Practice
Start: 2026-10-07T09:00:00-0400
End: 2026-10-07T10:00:00-0400

Mapping What We Have: Community Asset Mapping as Visual Literacy and Place-Based Practice

Wednesday October 7, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am EDT

Studio

What does it mean to truly see the resources within a community? This session examines community asset mapping as a visual literacy practice, one that makes tangible the often-invisible networks of support that exist within places and communities.

Drawing on two distinct contexts, this presentation examines how the act of physically mapping community assets transforms the way people understand and engage with their environments. The first is a North Carolina statewide digital inclusion initiative, in which a public-facing tech resource finder enables residents to search for free wi-fi, computer access, and digital literacy training by location and resource type—transforming an abstract service landscape into a searchable, visual map. The second involves preservice teachers in a scholarship program designed to prepare future educators for high-needs districts in eastern North Carolina. As part of their preparation, teacher candidates research and map community assets in their future student teaching districts; they also collaboratively mapped their own university campus—identifying support offices, study spaces, dining spots, and more. The collaborative mapping process proved especially powerful: it helped candidates articulate what they already knew about their campus, sparked discussion around newly shared discoveries, and encouraged more intentional exploration of their environment.

Both cases illustrate how visual representation activates an asset-based mindset, helping users recognize resources they might otherwise overlook. In dialogue with the conference theme, Seeing Through Time, this session positions asset maps as place-bound mnemonic images, representations that encode community knowledge, reflect the positionality of their makers, and shape how groups understand and narrate their own resources.

Following a brief presentation, participants will engage in a hands-on mapping activity, creating a visual representation of their own support networks and reflecting on the power of asset-based, place-centered seeing.

Speakers

Samantha Duke

Doctoral Student, North Carolina State University

Samantha Duke is a Ph.D. candidate in Teacher Education and Learning Sciences: Literacy and English Language Arts Education at North Carolina State University. She studies preservice teacher preparation and support and aims to create spaces of belonging in which students are empowered... Read More →

Wednesday October 7, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Studio

Campfire

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IVLA 2026 Charleston

Samantha Duke

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IVLA 2026 Charleston

Samantha Duke

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