Cartography of Environmental Disasters

In this course we will spatially interpret stories of environmental disasters. Where did people go and how did they organize themselves on the landscape according to race, class, and gender during an ongoing event like the Dust Bowl or Hurricane Katrina? Combining historical maps with accounts such as Donald Worster’s Dust Bowl and films such as Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke, we will analyze, discuss, and write essays tracing stories of migrations and homelands in the face of unwanted environmental change. Students will undertake detailed case studies that combine cartographic and text-based forms of historical and geographical storytelling.