Mapping the Global Imaginary, 1500-1900
–Stanford, USA
On 14-15 February 2019 The David Rumsey Map Center will host a two-day conference on Mapping and the Global Imaginary, 1500 - 1900. The conference is co-sponsored by the Stanford History Department, Global History & Culture Centre at the University of Warwick, England, UK, and the David Rumsey Map Center.
When mapping on a global scale, the line between factual and fictitious landscape quickly blurs. The speakers of Mapping the Global Imaginary, 1500—1900 cross this blurry boundary into every continent, as well as purely speculative ones, to share a host of cartographic enterprises. From the imaginary Kobitojima Island propagated by Edo cartographers to the armchair geography seeking to define colonial Africa, to efforts at mapping airspace itself, topics probe the extent and diversity of challenge and license inherent in mapmaking from a (cognitive) distance.
Professor Sumathi Ramaswamy (Duke University), author The Lost Land of Lemuria: Fabulous Geographies, Catastrophic Histories, will present the keynote address. Panel speakers include Ademide Adelusi-Adeluyi, Zoltán Biedermann, Nathan Braccio, Corin Braga, Jordana Dym, Matthew Edney, Quintana Heathman, David Lambert, Carla Lois, Ewa Machotka, Bertie Mandelblatt, Erika Monahan, Luca Scholz, Chet Van Duzer, and Bram Vannieuwenhuyze.
Attendance is free and open to the public and includes a reception at Green Library on Thursday 14 February 2019.