[Re-]Making maps for humanists & interpretative social scientists

Praxis: Doing Scholarship Digitally Speaker Series

Luke Bergmann
Department of Geography
University of Washington

I will offer reflections on two issues. First, I explore simple ways we can now make appealing maps. Then, I invite consideration of when it is appropriate for humanists and interpretative social scientists to embrace cartographies that are built upon positivist approaches to knowledge—approaching a singular world from above, plotting attributes assigned to individuated objects. Do generations of theoretical critique and interpretative practice suggest humanists [re-]make maps resonant with humanistic approaches to knowledge? Can we create cartographic practices that allow us to approach spaces, objects, knowers, and knowns in terms of relation, and process, and multiplicity?