By Kären Wigen (NHC Fellow, 1999–00) Kären Wigen probes regional cartography, choerography, and statecraft to redefine restoration (ishin) in modern Japanese history. As developed here, that term designates not the quick coup d’état of 1868 but a three-centuries-long project of rehabilitating an ancient map for modern purposes. Drawing on a wide range of geographical documents … Continued
By Marcia Kupfer (NHC Fellow, 2012–13) A single, monumental mappa mundi (world map), made around 1300 for Hereford Cathedral, survives intact from the Middle Ages. As Marcia Kupfer reveals in her arresting new study, this celebrated testament to medieval learning has long been profoundly misunderstood. Features of the colored and gilded map that baffle modern expectations are … Continued
Edited by Maria Georgopoulou (NHC Fellow, 2010–11) and Irini Solomonidi The New Griffon volume 12 seeks to highlight several discoveries in a variety of areas and time periods: Father Konstantinos Terzopoulos explores 16 manuscripts of Byzantine chant; Leonora Navari presents the published works of Cardinal Bessarion, one of the heroes of Joannes Gennadius because of his … Continued
By Richard J. A. Talbert (NHC Fellow, 2000–01) The Peutinger Map is the only map of the Roman world to come down to us from antiquity. An elongated masterpiece, full of colorful detail and featuring land routes across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East, it was rediscovered mysteriously around 1500 and then came into … Continued
By Richard W. Unger (NHC Fellow, 2008–09) Renaissance map-makers produced ever more accurate descriptions of geography, which were also beautiful works of art. They filled the oceans Europeans were exploring with ships and to describe the real ships which were the newest and best products of technology. Above all the ships were there to show … Continued
By Barbara A. Hanawalt (NHC Fellow, 1997–98) A brisk narrative of battles and plagues, monastic orders, heroic women, and knights-errant, barbaric tortures and tender romance, intrigue, scandals, and conquest, The Middle Ages: An Illustrated History mixes a spirited and entertaining writing style with exquisite, thorough scholarship. Barbara A. Hanawalt, a renowned medievalist, launches her story with the … Continued
The Holocaust was an intensely geographical phenomenon, as it displaced millions of people, created and destroyed thousands of places, rendered social space hostile—or deadly—and resulted in profound changes that reconfigured Europe and led to global diasporas. This webinar will explore the many geographical dimensions of Holocaust places, including concentration and labor camps and Jewish ghettos. … Continued
In a lecture on the lived experiences of the local peoples of the area surrounding Dien Bien Phu in Northwest Vietnam, Dr. Christian C. Lentz, Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Chapel Hill, shared this map of the Northwest Region of Vietnam and a short anecdote about why this map is of particular … Continued
5 years ago the AP Human Geography teacher at my former high school announced that she would be moving to Rhode Island. She informed me that I would be taking over the course. I fell in love with the material and am constantly looking for ways to make geography more meaningful for students. Every year … Continued
I misunderstood the Geneva Accords and the reasons behind American involvement in Vietnam. I knew it was in the context of the Cold War but I did not understand why it had to happen and was I to teach a war or a conflict? After Pierre Asselin spoke on the subject and shared a similar … Continued