Cartography - Archive 2024 Calendar of Events

Please see Cartography - Calendar of Events for a current calendar of events.
Click here for archive of past events.

January 11, 2024 – Williamsburg The Williamsburg Map Circle is delighted to announce our first lecture of the New Year by Meagan Snow. The Subject of Meagan's lecture will be Evolving Technologies: An Introduction to Geographic Information Systems. The Lecture will take place at 5PM at The Williamsburg Landing, APA Auditorium. Please let Ellen Spore <ellen.spore(at)gmail.com> know if you will be able to attend this event.

January 16, 2024 - Denver (Hybrid) Join with the Rocky Mountain Map Society as we hear local trail researcher Larry Obermesik on a journey through a forgotten chapter of Colorado’s past. His presentation, Mapping the Cherokee Trail: Colorado’s Forgotten Highway, will explore the profound significance of the Cherokee Trail in Colorado's history, learn about ongoing trail preservation efforts, and see how a deep-dive into Colorado’s pre-territorial Claim Clubs has revealed new insights into the lives of this region’s earliest settlers. Meeting is at 5:30 PM MT in History Colorado Center, downtown Denver. Program will be in the Martin Room, 4th floor. Please enter the building at the main (front) entrance. We will offer this program in person and via Zoom. Please register and get a free ticket at History Colorado's event calendar or contact <naomi.heiser(at)colorado.edu> for Zoom link.

January 18, 2024 - Chicago (Hybrid) You are invited to join the Chicago Map Society for an exciting program at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St.: 5:30 p.m. – social time with light refreshments; 6:00 p.m. – presentation by Emily Barton Altman Bathymetry: 20th and 21st Century Map Poetics. This creative and critical presentation will feature Altman’s map poetry. Altman will read her work and then trace the map and score-based practices that inform her writing. Beginning with 20th-century avant-garde practices and ending with contemporary work, Altman will show how writers and artists of the 20th and 21st centuries used maps in their poetry to interrogate space, politics, and everyday life. Write Chicago Map Society <contact(at)chicagomapsociety.org> for Zoom link.

January 18, 2024 – Washington (Online) Hosted by the Washington Map Society, this Zoom meeting is presented in partnership with the California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies. This meeting was arranged with assistance of Rocky Mountain Map Society. Anyone interested in participating in the meeting must RSVP to John Docktor at <washmap(at)gmail.com> in order to receive the meeting ID and passcode. Meeting will start at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 6:00 PM Central Time, 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and 4:00 PM Pacific Time. J. C. McElveen will discuss Herman Moll and John Senex: Mapping North America in the Early 18th Century (from the British Point of View).

January 23, 2024 - Salt Lake City (Online) Marco Polo was famous for traveling to East Asia, but some historians argue he never reached it. Dr. Benjamin B. Olshin will present, at the Salt Lake County Library, A Tale of Marco Polo and Some Mysterious Maps. He will discuss the research for his book, "The Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps". Olshin will offer a leading analysis of a newly discovered collection of 14 maps and related documents said to have belonged to the family of Italian merchant and explorer Marco Polo. This online lecture will be given at 7:00pm. You must register for this event to receive a link to the WebEx virtual lecture.

January 25, 2024 - London (Hybrid) - The Thirty-Third Series of “Maps and Society Lectures” in the history of cartography are convened by Catherine Delano-Smith (Institute of Historical Research) and Philip Jagessar (King’s College London) with Tony Campbell and Peter Barber (both formerly Map Library, British Library) and Alessandro Scafi (Warburg Institute). Meetings are normally held on selected Thursdays at 5.00 pm and are followed by refreshment. Enquiries to <c.delano-smith(at)qmul.ac.uk>, or <philip.jagessar(at)kcl.ac.uk>. All meetings are hybrid but please note that for this series all will be held in Senate House, University of London. We strongly encourage all who can to support the speaker by attending in person. All meetings are free but anybody wishing to attend a meeting must, please, indicate their intention at the Warburg Institute's What's On page, to register. Those attending remotely will be sent a link with guidelines. Felix de Montety (Université Grenoble Alpes, France) will speak about The Birth of the Isogloss: Remarks on the Problem of Language Borders in the History of Cartography.

January 26, 2024 - Germany (Online) The next Network Topographic Visual Media workshop will be 14.00–15.30 (CET). Jana Moser (Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde (IfL) / Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography) will discuss From East and West: Shaping spatial perceptions through (school) atlases. School atlases are map products that are strongly influenced by national education policies. Using the example of German school atlases from the last 50 years, differences and similarities are shown with the aim of a joint reflection and discussion on other atlases but also on possible social (impact) effects. Contact <ntb(at)kunstgeschichte.org> for Zoom link.

January 28, 2024 - New York The New York Map Society presents, at 2:00 pm New York (ET) time for up to 12-15 2024 paid-members-only, Peter Lloyd on The History and Design of Transit Maps. "I have been researching the history and design of the New York City subway maps for a number of years. In 2012 I published "Vignelli: Transit Maps," based on interviews with Massimo Vignelli, and others, as well as archival research. I am preparing several further volumes documenting the history of the NYC subway map since its inception." RSVP for one of the limited spots to <kapochunas(at)gmail.com>. The default location will be my apartment in Long Island City, but if you'd like to host 12-15 fellow members, and have either a Smart TV or a projector that can display a PowerPoint, please let me know ASAP!

February 1, 2024 - Edinburgh (Hybrid) In 1654, Scotland became one of the best mapped countries in the world. The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland features 49 stunning, hand-coloured maps of Scotland. Collectively, these maps identified over 20,000 locations. For most of these places, this was the first time they ever appeared on a printed map. Discover the stories behind the Blaeu Atlas of Scotland with our Map Curator, Chris Fleet. Lecture will be held National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge at 17:30 - 18:30 GMT. Book tickets to attend in-person or view the livestream.

February 4, 2024 – New York The New York Map Society will have a field trip 11:00 am - 1:00 pm New York (ET) time. Attendance is limited to 10-15 New York Map Society members-only to privately view maps of Palestine, Israel, and some relating to the Holocaust at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research at 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan, on a day when the institute is normally closed to the public. RSVP to <kapochunas(at)gmail.com>. The Society is required to send, well in advance, YIVO a list of attendees that will be shared with building security. Passage through a metal detector, and photo IDs, will be required.

February 9, 2024 – Philadelphia (Online) The University of Pennsylvania’s Kislak Center will host, from 12:00pm – 1:00pm, Roger Chartier (Annenberg Visiting Professor in History and Professor at the Collège de France) and John Pollack (Kislak Center) speaking on Maps in Literature: 18th century to 16th century. When and why do maps first appear in fictional works? How do maps condition the readers of literature? Focusing on early modern Europe, this presentation will move from maps showing the journeys of Don Quixote through Spain, to maps of Gulliver’s Travels, to early maps of imaginary and allegorical worlds. Free registration here.

February 13, 2024 - Washington (Online) Join from 3:00-4:00 pm (Eastern) Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress, reference librarians for an introduction to the Geography and Map Division collections. This orientation session, aimed at the general public, will highlight a wide range of cartographic formats and subject matter. The focus of the session will be on maps and online resources available to all patrons any time or place in the world. Topics covered will also include search tips and tricks, research and collection guides, ways to engage with the collections online, and how to prepare for a future trip to the reading room. After the presentation, staff look forward to answering additional questions from attendees. Register for this session.

February 15, 2024 - Chicago (Hybrid) Please join Chicago Map Society for an informative program at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St. 5:30 p.m. – social time with light refreshments; 6:00 p.m. – presentation by Dr. Danielle Gravon. She will discuss Gerhard Mercator’s sacred geographies during the Reformation. Register in advance for this webinar.

February 20, 2024 – Cambridge (Online) The Cambridge Seminars in the History of Cartography meets at 6.30pm UK time. Isabella Alexander (UTS Sydney) will discuss Controlling Copying before Copyright: A Tale of Three Britannias. All are welcome. All seminars will be on Zoom. Please register for the talk and the Zoom link will be sent to you. For any enquiries, please contact Sarah Bendall at <sarah.bendall(at)emma.cam.ac.uk>, tel. 01223 330476. The seminars are kindly supported by Emmanuel College Cambridge.

February 22, 2024 – Hong Kong (Hybrid) The Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, École française d'Extrême-Orient, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology co-organized a lecture series “The Backgrounds of the Chinese Maps / Their Reading and Understanding”. Ms. Bai Hongye (National Library of China) will present Map production and distribution in China A case study based on the Jian'an and Ouning (Fujian) district maps from 4:30-6:30pm at The Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The lecture could be seen via Zoom.

February 22, 2024 - London (Hybrid) - The Thirty-Third Series of “Maps and Society Lectures” in the history of cartography are convened by Catherine Delano-Smith (Institute of Historical Research) and Philip Jagessar (King’s College London) with Tony Campbell and Peter Barber (both formerly Map Library, British Library) and Alessandro Scafi (Warburg Institute). Meetings are normally held on selected Thursdays at 5.00 pm and are followed by refreshment. Enquiries to <c.delano-smith(at)qmul.ac.uk>, or <philip.jagessar(at)kcl.ac.uk>. All meetings are hybrid but please note that for this series all will be held in Senate House, University of London. We strongly encourage all who can to support the speaker by attending in person. All meetings are free but anybody wishing to attend a meeting must, please, indicate their intention at the Warburg Institute's What's On page, to register. Those attending remotely will be sent a link with guidelines. Matthew Day (College of Arts, Humanities and Education, University of Derby) will speak about For the Benefit of the Nation? Richard Hakluyt's Principal Navigations (1589, 1598–1600) and Its Readers. Hakluyt Society Speaker.

February 26, 2024 - Cambridge, Massachusetts The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies will have a China Humanities Seminar featuring Michelle H. Wang (Associate Professor of Art History and Humanities, Reed College) from 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm in CGIS South, Room S050, 1730 Cambridge St. In The Art of Terrestrial Diagrams in Early China (University of Chicago Press, 2023), Michelle H. Wang explores the diagrammatic tradition of rendering space in early China. The book centers on maps (ditu) excavated from three tombs that date from the fourth to the second century BCE and constitute the entire known corpus of early Chinese maps.

February 26, 2024 - London (Online) The Map Curators’ Group of the British Cartographic Society will hold a virtual business meeting from 3-4:30 pm. If you would like to join the business meeting, or have any other business we should discuss, please respond to me <paula.williams(at)cartography.org.uk> by 19th February so I can share papers and the meeting link.

February 27, 2024 - Denver (Hybrid) Rebecca Theobald (Associate Research Professor in the Geography and Environmental Studies Department at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs) will speak about The Role of Maps in Electoral Redistricting: Redistricting Maps in Context at the Rocky Mountain Map Society meeting. Meeting will be at 5:30 pm in History Colorado Center, downtown Denver. This presentation will examine redistricting in the context of 1) global approaches to geographic representation, 2) manipulation of districts to maintain power, and 3) current democracy reform projects in the United States. Register to attend in-person. Contact Naomi Heiser <naomi.heiser(at)colorado.edu> for Zoom link.

February 27, 2024 - London (Online) The International Map Collectors' Society will have a Show & Tell by Zoom at 6pm UK time (as in the past). As before, several Presenters will share about a map, globe or related item. Register for the event or alternatively, register on the Society website Events page.

March 2, 2024 - 's-Hertogenbosch For its next excursion, The Brussels Map Circle proposes to go to 's-Hertogenbosch to visit the Mapping Modernity exhibition at Design Museum Den Bosch. Mapping Modernity is an exhibition that tells the story of our world in 250 maps. If you wish to register please email to Marie-Anne Dage, Brussels Map Circle Secretary, <marie.anne.dage(at)gmail.com>.

March 2, 2024 - San Francisco (Online) The Winter Conference of California Map Society will be held virtually 9:30AM - 12:30PM Pacific time. Suzanne Knecht will talk about her circumnavigation of the globe over the course of 2 years, 30,000 miles and over 30 countries. Robert Headland will talk about his trips to the Arctic with the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. Chet van Duzer will discuss Imagined Territories around the South Pole: Exploring the Ring Continent on Early Globes and Maps There will also be a presentation by Evan Thornberry from Stanford's David Rumsey Map Center. Click here to register.

March 5, 2024 - Cambridge You are warmly invited to a special event in Magdalene College at 5.15pm in The Cripps Auditorium (Entrance on Chesterton Road. Professor Stuart Martin, Senior Tutor and member of the Department of Mathematics, will chair a presentation on Perspectives. There will be two short talks and then a chance for discussion. The first panellist is Professor Tina di Carlo (Department of Architecture). Her talk will be about projections, with reference to Magdalene's own William Farish. Our second speaker is Tony Kirby, who is an expert on cartography (the production of maps and city plans) who will talk about the history of these two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional spaces. He will focus especially on plans of Cambridge through the ages. All are welcome including guests. The event will be followed by a drinks reception. Booking is not essential but helpful for catering purposes. Enquiries or to book contact The Pepys Librarian on <litfest(at)magd.cam.ac.uk>.

March 5, 2024 - Sheridan, Wyoming Rich Urbatchka (formerly with Kansas University Cartographic Service) will will give a presentation on the basics of Cartography from 5-6 p.m. in the Inner Circle, at Fulmer Library, 335 W. Alger St.

March 12, 2024 - Barcelona Presentation of the book Late Medieval World maps: From the Birth of the Hybrid World Map to the Demise of the Portolan Mappamundi by Ramon J. Pujades will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Auditorium of the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia (ICGC). Montjuïc Park. Attendance is free but, given the limited capacity of the room, it is essential to register as soon as possible.

March 14, 2024 - Valenciennes, France Jean-Louis Renteux (former Vice-President The Brussels Map Circle) will give a lecture about the history of the mapping of Hainaut. Lecture will be at 18.00 in Médiathèque Simone-Veil - 4, rue Ferrand.

March 14, 2024 - Rome (Hybrid) Stefaan Missinne (Royal Geographical Society) will deliver a lecture Leonardo and Verrazzano: New Discoveries on the Occasion of the 500th Anniversary of the Earliest European Voyage to the United States, 1524–2024. Lecture will be 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm at Notre Dame Rome Global Gateway. Register to attend on-line or in-person.

March 14, 2024 - Washington (Online) Hosted by the Washington Map Society, this Zoom meeting is presented in partnership with the California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies. Arranged with assistance of Rocky Mountain Map Society. Anyone interested in participating in the meeting must RSVP to John Docktor at washmap(at)gmail.com in order to receive the meeting ID and passcode. Meeting will start at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 6:00 PM Central Time, 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and 4:00 PM Pacific Time. Gary Spaid (Past President, Road Map Collectors Association) will discuss Why We Collect Road Maps.

March 21, 2024 – Chicago (Hybrid) You are invited to join the Chicago Map Society for an informative program at the Newberry Library; 5:30 p.m. – social time with light refreshments; 6:00 p.m. – presentation by Dr. Anne Bonds (Professor and Associate Chair of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee). Mapping Racism and Resistance in Milwaukee County represents the first effort to comprehensively document and map all racial covenants in Milwaukee County. Our goal is to not only analyze and visualize the historical geographies of racial covenants, but also to uncover Black resistance to such discrimination and its impact in shaping racial justice movements today. Register in advance for this webinar.

March 21, 2024 - London (Hybrid) - The Thirty-Third Series of “Maps and Society Lectures” in the history of cartography are convened by Catherine Delano-Smith (Institute of Historical Research) and Philip Jagessar (King’s College London) with Tony Campbell and Peter Barber (both formerly Map Library, British Library) and Alessandro Scafi (Warburg Institute). Meetings are normally held on selected Thursdays at 5.00 pm and are followed by refreshment. Enquiries to <c.delano-smith(at)qmul.ac.uk>, or <philip.jagessar(at)kcl.ac.uk>. All meetings are hybrid but please note that for this series all will be held in Room 243, 2nd Floor, Senate House, University of London. We strongly encourage all who can to support the speaker by attending in person. All meetings are free but anybody wishing to attend a meeting must, please, indicate their intention at the Warburg Institute's What's On page, to register. Those attending remotely will be sent a link with guidelines. Catherine Gibson (Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia) will speak about Mapmakers in Action: Drawing Borders in the Baltic, 1918–20.

March 22, 2024 - Amsterdam Scientific research on maps from the period when the Netherlands actively participated in slave trade and colonial occupation sometimes provokes fierce public reactions: falsification of history and virtue propaganda! In this Jansonius Lecture: Geschiedvervalsing en deugpropaganda!: Waarom het noodzakelijk is onze blik op oude kaarten te veranderen, starting at 14.15, Margriet Hoogvliet explains why it is necessary to change our view of old maps. She does this in particular using texts and maps on Africa, America and Asia in Blaeus Atlas Maior (from 1662 onwards). We can no longer simply discuss Dutch cartography from the sixteenth century onwards as heritage that we as a society can be proud of, because there are too many dark sides that we cannot simply ignore. Recent scientific theorising on old maps and different perspectives will be discussed, providing surprising new insights. Registration here. Venue: Singelkerk, Singel 452, Amsterdam. Language: Dutch

March 23, 2024 – Brussels The Brussels Map Circle 2024 Annual General Meeting will be held 10.00-12.00. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) opens only for Brussels Map Circle active members.
The Brussels Map Circle 2024 Map Afternoon (MAPAF) will be held 14.00-16.00. The MAPAF will be organised in close cooperation with the Maps and Plans Department of the Royal Library of Belgium who will show some very interesting items from their collection. On the other hand, every participant is invited to bring along a map, object, book or anything else of cartographic interest from his own collection to be presented and discussed by the present fellow members.
Both meetings will be held in Map Room / Cartes et Plans / Kaarten en Plannen, KBR (Royal Library of Belgium), Mont des Arts.

March 24, 2024 – New York The New York Map Society invites all New York-area map lovers to join us at 2:00pm for a self-guided tour of the New York Historical Society’s immersive exhibit: New York Before New York: The Castello Plan of New Amsterdam. Buy your ticket(s) Adults: $24; Seniors/Educators: $19 here. On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the Dutch founding of a colony that would give rise to New York, this special installation is organized around the Castello Plan, a map depicting New Amsterdam around the peak of its settlement circa 1660.

March 25, 2024 - Portland (Online) Please join Osher Map Library at 12:00 PM, for a conversation with Matthew Edney about Chromolithography. This event will be presented on Zoom and tickets are limited to the first 90 registrants. This event is free and open to the public. Registration link to be posted.

March 26, 2024 – Denver (Hybrid) The Rocky Mountain Map Society will meet at 5:30PM at History Colorado, 1200 Broadway. Rocky Mountain Map Society Founding Member Don McGuirk will speak on the topic: Is This North America? The earliest World Maps (c. 1502-1516) appear to depict the Eastern Coast of North America decades before its documented exploration. This enigma has been called “The most baffling [cartographic] problem” of its time. (W. P. Cumming, R. A. Skelton, and D. B. Quinn). This presentation will examine these maps in detail, present contemporary written information regarding this geography presented, and conclude by arguing that the geography presented is not North America but rather the earliest expression of an overestimated Cuba. Register to attend in-person. Contact Naomi Heiser <naomi.heiser(at)colorado.edu> for Zoom link.