The Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography

Using Historic Maps in College and University Courses

Expanding the educational uses of historic maps is central to the Smith Center’s mission. Over the years we have sponsored programs education professionals working at all levels, providing them with the materials and expertise they need to make historic maps integral sources for study. We present here suggestions from former institute and workshop particpants who use historic maps in their college and university courses.

Syllabi and Reading Lists
Unavailable, under revision (Spring 2006)

• Maps and Power
  A freshman orientation course looking at maps as documents of a culture’s view of themselves and the world; lectures and discussion explore the relationship between mapmaking and power. By James Krokar (DePaul University).
• Maps, ‘Lies,’ and World History
  A freshman-level course designed to be an orientation to campus life; activities help students learn to read the literal and figurative maps they encounter with a critical eye—an eye that will discern both what is shown and how to make the best use of it, and what is left unmarked but should nonetheless not be overlooked. By Laura Hostetler (University of Illinois-Chicago).
• Maps as Historical Sources
  A seminar-style class with the goal of helping students to recognize the human presence in geographic space through readings on cartographic symbolization and exercises in analyzing thematic and reference maps. By Bruce Fetter (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).
• Historical Background of Contemporary Issues: Maps and Nations
  Lecture/discussion class explores how maps have served political, economic, and social interests, and how cartography has been used by various groups for nation-building and identity formation. By Anne Hardgrove (University of Iowa).
• African History Through Maps, 1500-1990s
  An upper level seminar designed to provide students with an understanding of African history through the use of cartographic materials; the course explores the evolution of African history from 1500 to the 1990s, with the continent of Africa being treated as a unified economic, geographic, and historical entity. By A.B. Assensoh (Indiana University).
• Maps in History and Culture
  An upper-level lecture/discussion course examining maps in multiple cultures and the relationship of those maps to local geographies and perceptions of place; focuses on cartography in Europe and under European influence in the last 500 years. By James Krokar (DePaul University).

Teaching with Historic Maps: College- and University-Level Approaches
Excerpts from Mapline No. 88/89
Unavailable, under revision (Spring 2006)

• Finding Your Way Around Campus: Teaching Critical Thinking with Maps
  Prof. Laura Hostetler explains how she used historic maps to introduce University of Illinois freshman to college life.
• Teaching ‘Graphicacy’ in the University Classroom
  University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Prof. Bruce Fetter offers an effective exercise for demonstrating the dramatic changes in political geography caused by westward expansion in mid-19th century America.
• Perspectives on Teaching
  Former participants in Smith Center programs share their advice and suggestions for incorporating historic maps into the classroom.
• Web site reviews
  These Internet sites were reviewed with the concerns of teaching at the college and university level in mind. See how your students can gain access to some of the most historically significant, beautiful, and uncommon maps in the world.

We also recommend that you consider the Map History/History of Cartography website, which lists links to cartography and geography sites that provide educators and parents with resources for teaching with and about maps.