What can we learn from the early map makers of the American hemisphere? Join Dr. Stephanie Wood from the Univeristy of Oregon’s Wired Project for a closer look at maps from The Age of Exploration digital maps collection as part of the Know Exploring series this November at Deschutes Public Library. The presentation and is free and open to the public.

Saturday, November 8 • 2:00 p.m.
Downtown Bend Library

Wood says that while we might think of maps as largely geographic or topographic, they can also convey social constructions and political ideologies. “We can use details from early, European-authored maps of the Western Hemisphere to help us see maps as human expressions, revealing as much or more about the context in which they were made,” says Wood. During her presentation Wood will show how maps exposed and perpetuated ignorance, reflected growing experience and ambitions, built knowledge and created power. “We will also take a peak at indigenous-authored, map-like pictorials and some of the mindsets they can portray,” she says.

Dr. Wood has a doctorate in Latin American history and specializes in the social and ethno-history of New Spain. She is a Senior Fulbright Scholar, a senior editor at Oxford University Press and is the chief editor of a number of digital projects that have been created with funding she has won from such institutions as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation. The Age of Exploration digital maps collection (http://exploration.uoregon.edu) is one of these. This project is founded upon the map collection of Dr. James Walker of Eugene, Oregon. Dr. Walker is also the lead scholar in the analysis of the maps.

For more information about this or other library programs, please call 312-1032 or visit www.dechuteslibrary.org. People with disabilities needing accommodations (alternative formats, seating or auxiliary aides) should contact Liz at 312-1032.