Developing Cartographic Literacy with Historic Maps

FAIN: FV-50114-06

Newberry Library (Chicago, IL 60610-3305)
James R. Akerman (Project Director: March 2006 to October 2008)

A three-week summer seminar for fifteen school teachers to engage in an exploration of historical maps from the Newberry Library's cartographic collection.

On 16 July - 3 August 2007 The Newberry Library will invite 15 schoolteachers from throughout the United States to the Newberry to develop their cartographic literacy and their ability to use maps effectively in their classrooms. The three-week seminar, co-directed by James Akerman and Gerald Danzer, will pursue readings of historic and contemporary maps as windows to the worlds from which they emerged. Participants in "Developing Cartographic Literacy with Historic Maps" will follow a program of readings and seminar discussion of recent scholarship in cartography and the history of cartography, practical workshops, and field trips designed to help participants read and use map documents effectively in their personal research and teaching. Most importantly, they will engage in intensive reading and analysis of original documents from the Newberry's renowned collections of historic maps, and pursue individual research projects that will have a tangible impact in their own classrooms.