Map of the Island of Malta by Piri Reis (c.1467-c.1554)
The Department of Geography at the Faculty of Arts will be hosting Dr Alexander Kent from Canterbury Christ Church University. Dr Kent will deliver two lectures on the History of Cartography.
Lecture 1: Monday 26 October 12:00-14:00 | Venue: Sir Temi Zammit Hall
A Journey through the History of Map-making – From Antiquity to the Age of Discovery
This first lecture sets the scene by introducing the primary motivations for mapping, such as the understanding and control of the environment, pilgrimage, navigation, and defence. A range of maps are presented in roughly chronological order and are interpreted and discussed with reference to their social and political context. The following group activity involves engaging with a number of facsimile maps to appreciate how cartographic language has changed over time to communicate information for difference patrons and audiences.
Lecture 2: Thursday 29 October 10:00-12:00 | Library Basement 2, Msida Campus
A Journey through the History of Map-making – From the Rise of National Surveys to the Present
About the speaker
Dr Alex Kent is Reader in Cartography and Geographic Information Science at Canterbury Christ Church University, where he lectures on courses in Cartography, GIS, European Geography, and Political Geography. Formerly Head of the Cartographic Unit at the University of Southampton, he undertook his first degree in Geography and Cartography at Oxford Brookes University, which was followed by an MPhil in GIS and Remote Sensing at the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College) and eventually a PhD from the University of Kent. He is currently the Vice President of the British Cartographic Society and the Editor of the Cartographic Journal.