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TI 702

Geography and Geo-graphing

Dr Nessa Cronin, Dr Kevin Lynch and Dr Kathy Reilly 

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Please click below for various module details:

• Module rationale 
• Key learning outcomes
• Assessment 
• Readings
• Full module outline 

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Module rationale

The power of cartography in representing and framing boundaries, networks, socio-economic conditions and environment–society relations is long established. A critical examination of the multiple ways in which society is mapped (or literally geo-graphed) enables a key entry point into thinking through the complexities of the contemporary world and the contested nature of space and place. Contextualised by a broader critique of the history of cartography (in the service of empire, past and present), and new technological developments in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this module will immerse students in a critical discussion of the politics of cartographic representation(s). Students will consider the ways in which such representations continue to produce restrictive and elitist discourses of environment-society relations and will assess the potential of critical cartography as a means by which such hegemonic discourses can be contested. The module will conclude with an examination of counter-cartography, which will encourage students to consider alternative applications of mapping technology and the potency of geographical representation(s) in framing practices of resistance.

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Key learning outcomes

• Critical understanding of the history of cartography and awareness of the constructed and contested nature of all forms of geographical representation
  
• Recognition of the relationship between geography and the military and the intrinsically political and politicised nature of mapping and GIS
  
• Awareness of the role of geopolitical mapping and imperial registers in all forms of Western interventionary practices
  
• Assessment of the strengths and limitations of critical cartography and the scripting of counter geographies in critiquing and resisting hegemonic practices of cartographic representation 

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Assessment (10 ECTS)

Continuous assessment (100%)

2 x 3000-word term papers or equivalent

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Some key readings

Cloud, J. (2002) American Cartographic Transformations during the Cold War. Cartography and Geographic Information Science 29(3): 261-282

Harley, J.B. and Laxton, P. (2001) The New Nature of Maps: Essays in the History of Cartography. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press

Pickles, J. (2004) A History of Spaces. Cartographic Reason, Mapping, and the Geo-Coded World. New York: Routledge (Chapters 1-4)

Wilson, M.W. and Poore, B.S. (2009) Theory, Practice and History in Critical GIS: Reports on an AAG Panel Session. Cartographica 44(1): 5-16

    

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