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| Semester | fall semester 2020 |
| Course frequency | Every fall sem. |
| Lecturers | Shourideh Molaei Birgani (sc.molavi@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course explores the past, present, and future of mapping across a range of geographic, political, cultural contexts. Maps reveal, delimit, confirm, navigate, historicize, erase, anticipate, persuade, and, sometimes, even lie. Far from a scientific reading of mapping as an objective representation of a stable reality, we explore the myriad of ways in which historical legacies of colonialism and imperialism continue to shape our gaze of the urban landscape—affecting our normative, political and personal considerations of the relations among subjects, objects and spaces. The course begins with a critical theoretical examination of how maps can be understood as instruments of violence and terrains of power. We explore the historical matrix within which mapping developed by looking at the epistemologies of various types of spatial and temporal maps produced that represent colonized, occupied and otherwise marginalized frontiers and experiences. Our discussions also actively engage with resistances to this practice in the form of other traditions of mapping, including counter-cartographic contestations that make visible otherwise marginal experiences and hidden histories of violence. While considering the social relevance, politics and ethics of mapping, course participants will also engage in a practical aspect of critical cartography. Starting from the power relations in our own urban context in the city of Basel, students will learn various hands-on techniques and technologies for mapping local relations in space and time. Experimenting with a range of critical mapping tools and interdisciplinary methods—including fieldwork, archival research, visual and material analysis and remote sensing—we will together develop creative techniques to produce and represent alternative urban landscapes and overlapping cartographies. |
| Learning objectives | - An understanding of the history and practice of mapping as a relation of domination and an ability to critically read existing maps. - Through the production of maps using counter-cartographic tools and research methods, an ability to develop new ways of observing and interrogating legacies of power in their local context, with a particular focus on the relationship between the lived experiences of communities and their overlapping urban geographies. |
| Comments | ***Important note**** Due to Corona measurements and health and safety reasons - This course is on a first serve basis with Master Students of Critical Urbanisms being prioritised over students from other subject areas. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Geographische Methoden- und Forschungskompetenz (Master's degree subject: Geography) Modul: Interdisciplinary and Applied African Studies (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Research Skills (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Projects and Processes of Urbanization (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms (Start of studies before 01.08.2020)) Module: Ways of Knowing the City (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| 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 |