{"id":13271,"date":"2017-04-25T11:53:32","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T11:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/?p=13271"},"modified":"2018-05-08T15:00:11","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T15:00:11","slug":"alumnus-helps-boston-schools-adopt-a-new-world-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2017\/04\/25\/alumnus-helps-boston-schools-adopt-a-new-world-map\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumnus helps Boston schools adopt a new world map"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boston Public Schools recently made headlines around the globe by introducing a different style of map, called the Gall-Peters projection, into the classroom for the first time<\/a>. While some individual schools in the United States\u00a0have used the Gall-Peters projection, it is believed that Boston is the first school district to adopt the map in all of its schools.<\/p>\n

In the middle of the whole change process was an FIU alumnus.<\/p>\n

Josue D. Sakata, assistant director at the Boston Public Schools\u2019 History & Social Studies Department, graduated from FIU with a bachelor\u2019s degree in print journalism in 1998.<\/p>\n

According to Sakata, the decision to integrate the Gall-Peters projection into Boston\u2019s public schools had a lot to do with addressing biases that exist in the Mercator projection.<\/p>\n

The Mercator projection was designed in the 16th century to help with navigation along colonial trade routes by drawing straight lines across the oceans. As a result, the projection exaggerates the size of North America and Europe, making both continents appear larger than South America and Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working a lot in Boston to meet the needs of our most marginalized students and their meeting social, emotional and cultural needs,\u201d Sakata says. \u201cWe want to make sure we honor our diverse community, with students from all over the world, so they can see themselves in the historical narrative and in the history curriculum.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the maps were implemented\u00a0in March, the Gall-Peters projections were placed side by side with the Mercator maps so that students could study the differences for themselves.<\/p>\n

The Gall-Peters projection, however, has its own flaws. Linda Bliss, a professor of qualitative research in FIU\u2019s\u00a0School of Education and Human Development<\/a>, says that while the size and position of each continent are correct, the shape of each continent is somewhat lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach map has a purpose and each map has its own flaws and biases,\u201d Sakata says. \u201cWe have not gotten rid of Mercator maps. We are not throwing those away. We want to allow students to see different perspectives in maps and gain a more well-rounded worldview of what\u2019s going on around them.\u201d<\/p>\n