Category: Events

Here are some talks and workshops hosted by local map societies coming up in the second half of March 2016:

Thursday, 17 March 2016, Chicago IL. In-Car Navigation Systems: A Twenty-Year Retrospective. Michael Quane, who gave a talk to the Society on in-car navigation systems in February 1996, returns for another talk “to help us understand how much has changed in the world of in-car navigation and to give us some notion of where the field might be five (or even twenty) years hence.” Chicago Map Society meeting. Ruggles Hall, The Newberry Library, 60 W Walton St, Chicago IL 60610. 5:30 PM. Donations requested.

Saturday, 19 March 2016, Richmond VA. Introduction to Antique Maps Workshop. “While examining a variety of antique map types, guest speaker Eliane Dotson will discuss map terminology, color application, printing techniques, manufacture and creation, and clues to look for to identify reproductions and forgeries. Join us to explore questions such as what you should ask or think about when looking at a map and what maps can relate to us within their broader context.” Fry-Jefferson Map Society meeting. Library of Virginia, 800 E Broad St, Richmond VA 23219. 10 AM. Free; registration required.

Tuesday, 22 March 2016, Boston MA. Missing Women, Blank Maps, and Data Voids: What Gets Counted Counts. Joni Seager, author of the State of the Women in the World Atlas (now The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World) will discuss “the persistent paucity of gender-disaggregated data.” Boston Map Society meeting. Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St, Copley Square, Boston MA 02116. Free.

Thursday, 24 March 2016, Washington DC. Watching the Apocalypse: Using GIS and Social Media to Map Refugees. The Library of Congress’s John Hessler discusses the mapping tools used to chart population movements in the face of war, humanitarian disasters and epidemics. Washington Map Society meeting. Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building (Geography and Map Room, basement), 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington DC 20050. 7 PM. Free.

Tuesday, 29 March 2016, Denver CO. Marie Tharp, Illustrator of a Paradigm. John Lindemann gives a talk on the woman who mapped the ocean floor. Rocky Mountain Map Society meeting. Denver Public Library (Gates Room, 5th floor), 10 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver CO 80204. 5:30 PM. Free.

Wednesday, 30 March 2016, Boston MA. The World for a King: Pierre Desceliers’ Map of 1550. “Chet Van Duzer will give an account of the large (4.4 × 7 feet) and elaborately decorated manuscript world map made by the Norman cartographer Pierre Desceliers in 1550.” Boston Map Society meeting. Boston University, Hillel House, 213 Bay State Rd, Boston MA 02215–1506. 5:30 PM. Free.

4 February, London. Maps and Society lecture. Dr. Kevin Sheehan on “Construction and Reconstruction: Investigating How Portolan Maps Were Produced by Reproducing a Fifteenth-Century Chart of the Mediterranean.” Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Woburn Sq, London WC1H OAB. 5:00 PM. Free admission.

4 February, Kennebunk, ME. Dinner and lecture; Matthew Edney and Steve Spofford on “Mapping the History of Boatbuilding in Kennebunkport.” Table, 27 Western Ave, Kennebunk ME 04043. 5:00 PM. $70. [tickets]

5 February, Boston. Boston Map Society meeting. “Dr. Ron Grim, Curator of Maps at the Normal B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, will talk about these off-site maps hung at the Langham Hotel while guests taste Scotch. (Lecture is free, drinks are pay-as-consume.)” Langham Hotel, 250 Franklin St, Boston MA 02110. 5:30 PM.

6 February, Lancaster. Maps and the Landscape: Distortion and Reality, a “study day” consisting of series of lectures by various academics: Angus Winchester on “Distorted reality? Maps as Historical Evidence”; Bill Shannon on “King Arthur, Tarn Wadling and the Gough Map”; Pat Saunders on “‘Nieuwe Kaarte van’t Koninkryk Bengale’ 1726: An Influential but Unreliable Dutch Map of Bengal”; Catherine Porter on “Progress or Plagiarism? The Mapping of Early Modern Ireland”; and Graham Cooper on “Control by the Crown of Salters (Deer-Leaps) in Private Deer-Parks: New Insights from a Duchy Dispute Map of Leagram Park, 1608.” Lancaster University, Regional Heritage Centre, Lancaster LA1 4YT. 9:30 AM to 3:50 PM. £25.

18 February, Chicago. Chicago Map Society meeting. Richard Pegg on “A Chinese Map of the World (Wanguo yutu) in the Newberry Library Collection.” Ruggles Hall, The Newberry Library, 60 W Walton St, Chicago IL 60610. 5:30 PM. Donations requested.

18 February, New York. New York Map Society meeting. Field trip to Manhattan Borough President’s Map Room. A behind-the-scenes look at oversize manuscript maps held by the Manhattan Map Room led by official topographer Hector Rivera. Municipal Building (19th floor), 1 Center St, New York NY 10007 (subway: Brooklyn Bridge). 6:30 PM. RSVP mandatory (see link for details).

18 February, Washington, D.C. Washington Map Society meeting. John Rennie Short on The National Atlas. “This talk looks at the emergence of the modern national atlas in the late nineteenth century down to the present day and reflects the rise of the postcolonial, the newly independent and the recently reinvented. The talk considers a number of themes, including how the atlas depicts national landscapes, embodies national communities and condenses national debates.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building (Geography and Map Room, basement), 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington DC 20050. 7:00 PM. Free admission.

23 February, Cambridge. Cambridge Seminars in the History of Cartography. Dorian Gerhold on “Plans of London buildings drawn c. 1450–1720.” Emmanuel College (Gardner Room), St Andrew’s St, Cambridge CB2 3AP. 5:30 PM. Free admission.

23 February, Denver. Rocky Mountain Map Society meeting. Lorraine Sherry on “Lithuania and the Baltic States: Welcome to NATO and the Euro Zone!” Denver Public Library (Gates Room, 5th floor), 10 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver CO 80204. 5:30 PM. Free admission.

24 February, Washington, D.C. Philip Lee Phillips Map Society meeting. Curtis Melvin, creator of North Korea Uncovered, on “North Korea Uncovered: The Crowd-Sourced Mapping of the World’s Most Secret State.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building (Mumford Room, 6th floor), 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington DC 20050. Noon. Free admission.

25 February, London. Maps and Society lecture. Maj. Tony Keeley on “Cartography in the Sands: Mapping Oman at 1:100,000 and Fixing the Position of the Kuria Muria Islands in 1984.” Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Woburn Sq, London WC1H OAB. 5:00 PM. Free admission.

19 January, Washington, DC. The authors of Mapping the West with Lewis and Clark (Levenger, 2015) will discuss their book. “Ralph E. Ehrenberg, chief of the Library’s Geography and Map Division, and his co-author, Smithsonian Institution curator emeritus Herman J. Viola, retrace the expedition with more than 100 images reproduced in exquisite detail.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building (6th floor), 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20050. Noon. Free admission.

21 January, Chicago. Chicago Map Society meeting. Prof. Harry L. Stern will give a talk entitled “How Close was Captain Cook to Discovering the Northwest Passage?” Ruggles Hall, The Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago IL 60610. 5:30 PM. Donations requested.

21 January, Washington, DC. Dr. Geoffrey Martin will discuss his book, American Geography and Geographers: Toward Geographical Science (Oxford University Press, 2015). The event will include “a display of related rare maps and atlases from the collections of the library’s Geography and Map Division.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building (basement room B-02), 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington DC 20050. 7:00 PM. Free admission.

26 January, New York. Andrew Kapochunas of LithuanianMaps.com will give a talk entitled “How Maps and Map Collecting Helped an Immigrant Find His Place in the World.” “Andrew will take attendees on a journey through time, beginning with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th Century, and through space, as he discusses his struggle to find his place in the world.” New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwartzman Building, South Court: Classroom A, Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018. 6:30 PM. Free admission.

4 February, London. Maps and Society lecture. Dr. Kevin Sheehan will give a talk on “Construction and Reconstruction: Investigating How Portolan Maps Were Produced by Reproducing a Fifteenth-Century Chart of the Mediterranean.” Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Woburn Square, London WC1H OAB. 5:00 PM. Free admission.

4 February, Kennebunk, ME. “Mapping the History of Boatbuilding in Kennebunkport.” Dinner and lecture. “Osher Map Library’s Matthew Edney and local historian Steve Spofford will explore the interconnection beetween early maps and the rise of shipbuilding in Kennebunkport.” Table, 27 Western Avenue, Kennebunk ME 04043. 5:00 PM. $70. [tickets]

5 February, Boston. Boston Map Society meeting. “Dr. Ron Grim, Curator of Maps at the Normal B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, will talk about these off-site maps hung at the Langham Hotel while guests taste Scotch. (Lecture is free, drinks are pay-as-consume.)” Langham Hotel, 250 Franklin Street, Boston MA 02110. No time given yet.

If all goes well, this listing of upcoming talks and lectures will be a regular feature on The Map Room. If you are organizing a map-related event, or just know about one, please contact me with the details.

January 14, London. Maps and Society lecture. University of London PhD candidate Nydia Pineda De Avila (PhD Candidate, Queen Mary, University of London) will speak on “Experiencing Early Lunar Maps through an Eighteenth-Century Collection.” Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Woburn Square, London WC1H OAB. 5:00 PM. Free admission.

January 19, Washington, DC. The authors of Mapping the West with Lewis and Clark (Levenger, 2015) will discuss their book. “Ralph E. Ehrenberg, chief of the Library’s Geography and Map Division, and his co-author, Smithsonian Institution curator emeritus Herman J. Viola, retrace the expedition with more than 100 images reproduced in exquisite detail.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20050. Noon. Free admission.

January 26, New York. Andrew Kapochunas of LithuanianMaps.com will give a talk entitled “How Maps and Map Collecting Helped an Immigrant Find His Place in the World.” “Andrew will take attendees on a journey through time, beginning with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th Century, and through space, as he discusses his struggle to find his place in the world.” New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwartzman Building, South Court: Classroom A, Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018. 6:30 PM. Free admission.