How to Do Things with Maps:Cartography, Power, and Political Imagination, from Gilgamesh to Google

Maps do not merely represent reality; they both create and exceed it. This course critically examines the history and future of cartography, devoting particular attention to the role that maps and map making have played in the emergence and persistence of social power and political imagination. Among other topics, we consider how maps have shaped property and class relations; state sovereignty and royal authority; colonialism and imperialism; national and ethnic identities; migration and citizenship; and the relationship between humankind and nature, earth and the cosmos. Classes include visits to historic map collections and experimentation with critical mapping techniques. Creative final project.