Is a map a mirror, a window, a weapon, or a work of art? From lines drawn in clay to geographic information systems (GIS), humans have constructed an understanding of the world through visual representations of space for millennia. At this interdisciplinary symposium, mapmakers, users, and critics from the worlds of science, urban planning, literature, and new media will examine the ways maps work.

Speakers include Eve Blau (Harvard Graduate School of Design), Jon Christense (UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability), Zephyr Frank (Stanford Spatial History Project), Robin Grossinger (San Francisco Estuary Institute), Katharine Harmon (Author, The Map as Art and You Are Here), Annette Kim (MIT SLAB), Laura Kurgan (Spatial Information Design Lab, Columbia University), Rebecca Solnit (author, Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas), and Denis Wood (author, Everything Sings).