• Colonizing St. John Island: A History in Maps

    S. Max Edelson [This is the eighth essay of the Borealia series on Cartography and Empire–on the many ways maps were employed in the contested imperial spaces of early modern North America.] This essay examines the Board of Trade’s survey and plan for St. John Island (renamed Prince Edward in 1798). It is part of a larger study… Continue Reading

  • Absence Makes the Art. Go Ponder.

    [This is the sixth essay of the Borealia series on Cartography and Empire–on the many ways maps were employed in the contested imperial spaces of early modern North America.]  Alan MacEachern The following post may not suit a scholarly discussion on cartography and empire. You’ve been warned. Here be dragons, and all that. This summer, I curated… Continue Reading

  • Teaching the Politics and Meaning of Maps

    Claire Campbell   I like maps. A lot. I used to study the Rand McNally Road Atlas on long car trips. Sometimes when I’m homesick I’ll meander through Halifax on Google Streetview. And this year I’m team-teaching a new course on “The Politics and Meaning of Maps.” The Premise This is an Integrated Perspectives course,… Continue Reading

  • New Brunswick Lighthouses and Colonial Spaces, 1784-1867

    Zachary A. Tingley Lighthouses, once a lifesaving beacon of hope for mariners facing the elements, are themselves now in need of rescue. In communities up and down the Atlantic coast, local communities have organized to preserve lighthouses that, while being in need of a great deal of repair because of federal neglect, remain iconic in… Continue Reading