Tony Campbell lists other discussion lists related to map history here.

For this year’s meeting, all the papers will focus on the relationship between gender, sexuality, and cartography. While some scholars have examined the interplay of gender identities and mapping, particularly with regard to the role of women as buyers and sellers in the historical map market, this work remains isolated and has yet to make a significant impact on the wider field. This conference hopes to offer a counterpoint to this trend by bringing together diverse approaches and hosting interdisciplinary discussions.

The keynote speaker is Susan Schulten. Registration costs $100, or $25 if you’re a student.

“The Limits to Mapping,” a talk Matthew Edney gave at Yale University last week as part of the Franke Program series of lectures, is now available on YouTube.

Edney, who’s Osher Professor in the History of Cartography at the University of Southern Maine and the director of the History of Cartography Project (his name’s come up before), also has a new book coming out next year: Cartography: The Ideal and Its History (University of Chicago Press) is apparently an argument about how problematic cartography as an all-encompassing concept is, which ought to make for an interesting read.

The Library of Congress’s Geographers on Film collection is a video archive of interviews with cartographers and geographers conducted during the 1970s and 1980s. About 300 interviews were apparently conducted; 28 are online so far. Interview subjects include Walter Ristow, Arthur Robinson (in 1972 and 1984) and Waldo Tobler, among others.

ISHMap is still in the middle of its constitutional crisis, which is affecting the organization of this conference; here are the unpleasant details from the perspective of the Edney faction, which is running the conference.

Previously: What the Hell Is Going On with the International Society for the History of the Map?

The Ricci Institute is hosting a series of events connected with our exhibition China at the Center at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. One of these events is an international symposium held at the University of San Francisco April 22-24 with extra events at the AAM and in the Manresa Gallery on the USF campus. The topic of the symposium concerns the history of East-West scientific exchange through the medium of cartography beginning with ancient maps and continuing to the present with the latest technological innovations. Internationally known specialists in cartography and East-West cultural exchange will be invited to share their research, while experts from Google and NASA will discuss the latest technological developments in enriching our knowledge of the world and the cosmos.

Registration on-site is $85, or free for students and USF faculty and staff. The program has been posted online (PDF).

Previously: China at the Center.

The program for the First International Workshop on the Origin and Evolution of Portolan Charts, which takes place 5-6 June 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal, is now live. The conference focuses on the history of portolan charts and the analytical techniques used to study them. [via]

Previously: Antiquity à la Carte.

It is interesting to consider how far the discipline of human geography appears to have distanced itself from maps over recent times, resulting almost in a form of cartophobia. Several papers over the last years showed a decline in map use and mapping practices in high-profile geographic journals. Cartographic skills as a natural expertise of a geographer seems to have vanished in many places, as have the theoretical and practical elements of geographic data visualization. Do many geographers ‘prefer to write theory rather than employ critical visualizations’, as Perkins (2004: 385) notes?

The Journal of Maps launched in 2005. I believe it was open-access at that point; since coming under the umbrella of Taylor & Francis in 2012, it no longer appears to be.

I was reminded of that day as I was reading Mark Monmonier’s memoir, Adventures in Academic Cartography, which does much the same thing as my prof did back then: pull back the veil to reveal an entire academic career that was hidden from our view. Monmonier is a familiar name to those of us interested in maps, having published a dozen books—scholarly, erudite but accessible to the lay reader—over the years. (I’ve reviewed three of them myself: How to Lie with Maps, his essential text on how maps persuade and deceive; Rhumb Lines and Map Wars, a look at the politicization of the Mercator projection; and From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow, on the politics and controversies behind place names.) But, like my professor, we are largely aware of only one aspect of his career: in Monmonier’s case, the books. Adventures in Academic Cartography, which he self-published in the fall of 2014, fills in the blanks.

An academic career is not normally made of exciting stuff—as titles go, Adventures in Academic Cartography is surely ironic—and to be sure Monmonier’s memoir can be very dry and technical in places, particularly the chapters involving his academic research, which is much less accessible to a general reader than most of his books. In his preface, Monmonier readily admits that the book is unlikely to hold much interest for anyone not already interested in the history of academic cartography. “I’ve worked hard to make the narrative flow well, but Adventures is hardly a page-turner.”

A fair comment, but there is such a thing as false modesty, as well as protesting too much. Monmonier’s prose is as pellucid as ever; and if Adventures is unlikely to turn unsuspecting souls into academic cartographers (particularly given its often-expressed impatience with academic politics), it nevertheless contains much of interest to those with an interest in maps. With chapters organized by theme—which aids coherence, and allows readers to skip those of less interest—Monmonier builds a portrait of an academic career with many facets, from the core of teaching, research and committee work to the ways in which a professor can engage with the broader community, as consultant, editor and, of course, author.

The chapter on the books on which his reputation has been made is almost criminally slight, with only a few brief paragraphs per title; it’s as though the books ought to speak for themselves. (A chapter on writing does afford some insights into their creation.) But that’s amply compensated for by the detail provided by the chapter on his work on the History of Cartography project; the sixth volume, which he edited, covers the 20th century and was released last year. His account of its creation makes me want to buy a copy of the damn thing for myself, and hang the $500 cost. Also fascinating is his chapter on map collecting—his own modest collection, and his encounters with the world of map collectors.

As should come as no surprise to anyone who’s read his book on the Mercator controversy (or his essay on critical cartography), Monmonier has always been sharply critical of the use of critical theory in cartography, and its use of abstruse language and theoretical call-backs when plainer speech and original thought will suffice. He’s got a chapter explaining his position here—he’s been called a historical materialist, if that helps—as well. (Though as another materialist who’s gotten a face-full of critical theory in my own academic career, I might quibble on a point or two, such as his complaint about “a map historian who once referred to the mapping of Eastern Europe as ‘the cartographicization’ (italics mine) of eastern Europe” [p. 197]—I can see how cartographicization and mapping can mean subtly different things.)

Like another academic memoir I’ve read recently (Tracks and Shadows by the herpetologist Harry W. Greene), the personal and private does not much intrude on the professional, at least once Monmonier’s career gets under way. It’s an academic memoir in every sense, an account of a long and distinguished career that offers insights into the profession and the subject matter being studied. As such it’s not for everyone, but I think a few of you would find it a fascinating read.

Adventures in Academic Cartography: A Memoir by Mark Monmonier
Bar Scale Press, November 2014
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