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58596-01 - Course: Critical Cartography (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Every fall sem. |
| Lecturers | Alaa Dia (alaa.dia@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course critically examines the political, cultural, and epistemological roles of maps in shaping spatial knowledge, governance, and resistance. Moving beyond their conventional use as geographic tools, maps are studied here as instruments of power that produce space, enforce boundaries, and legitimise authority. We explore how cartographic practices have historically facilitated colonialism, militarisation, and surveillance, while also engaging with emancipatory practices such as counter-mapping, participatory, and insurgent cartographies that challenge dominant spatial narratives. Combining theory and practice, the course offers students the opportunity to apply critical and alternative cartographic methods to Basel’s urban context. Through fieldwork, ethnographic methods, visual analysis, and digital mapping tools, students will interrogate how urban spaces reflect and reproduce power relations. Readings will draw from geography, urban studies, postcolonial theory, and visual culture, grounding contemporary debates on mapping technologies, data politics, and spatial justice. Students will gain practical experience in creating maps while reflecting on the responsibilities and possibilities of mapping as a method of critique, research, and intervention. |
| Learning objectives | By the end of this course, students will be able to: - Critically assess the historical and political functions of cartography, with particular attention to its role in colonial, militarised, and surveillance regimes. - Conduct field-based research using ethnographic methods such as observation, interviews, and fieldnotes to inform collaborative mapping projects. - Gain Practical Mapping Skills: Acquire hands-on experience using various mapping tools and technologies for fieldwork, archival research, and data visualisation. - Design and produce alternative cartographic narratives that reflect lived experience, ethical awareness, and spatial critique. |
| Comments | The course is open to Master students from other programs with a priority for MA Students in Critical Urbanisms and in Changing Societies on timely registration. Maximum capacity 35. |
| Admission requirements | Anmelden: Belegen ; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 14.15-16.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
Dates
| Modules |
Modul: Methoden der Near & Middle Eastern Studies und der Gesellschaftswissenschaften (Master's degree subject: Near & Middle Eastern Studies) Modul: Praktiken (Master's degree program: Cultural Techniques) Module: Ways of Knowing the City (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Pass/Fail |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Urban Studies |