ARC451H1 S
Instructor: Jason Nguyen
Meeting Section: L0101
Winter 2025

The impulse to represent the world has motivated countless artists, architects, scientists, explorers, and politicians since at least the early modern age (c. 1500-1800). This period witnessed the globalization of trade networks, the expansion of worldwide empires, and the development of sailing technologies that facilitated maritime travel. This course looks at a range of cartographic objects from this consequential period in global history, including maps, charts, globes, paintings, decoration, buildings, and landscapes. The aim is to assess how the artistic forms of these objects embodied both the scientific knowledge and the territorial desires of a period and place. That these efforts unfolded alongside the expansion of global empires illustrates the degree to which mapmaking often coincided with the violence of conquest.

We begin by considering different theories of cartography as they relate to art and the imagination, geography (and its representation), and science and technology. We will then interrogate some of the political, ecological, and anthropological underpinnings of cartography during the early modern period, notably as they relate to colonization and empire. We conclude by assessing the relationship between cartography, capitalism, and modernity as well as the histories and theories of critical cartography and counter-mapping. Readings, discussions, and writing exercises will lead to a final project of each student’s choosing.