Event Videos

When possible, videos of events organized by the Geography & Map Division are freely available online. The full collection of the Division’s available event videos below include recorded conferences, symposiums, speeches, and conversations with cartographic experts. These specialized programs aim to provide new knowledge and perspectives on collection materials to scholars, cartographers, geographers, and the public at large.

  • Film, Video
    Exploring Map Surrounds: Sights on Spice Art historian Juliet Wiersema and preservation specialist Meghan Hill present a historical and material exploration of William Hacke’s “A Description of the Sea Coasts … East Indies.”
    • Contributor: Mattson, Lena - Wiersema, Juliet - Hill, Meghan
    • Date: 2025-05-08
  • Film, Video
    Exploring Map Surrounds: Drawing Identity Philip Lee Phillips Society fellow Chet Van Duzer discussed cartographic self-portraits in the 20th and 21st centuries.
    • Contributor: Duzer, Chet Van - St. Onge, Timothy - Pastuch, Carissa
    • Date: 2025-05-08
  • Film, Video
    From Paper to Pixels: The Evolution of Ocean Mapping and Exploration Vicki Ferrini, a senior research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, traces the history of ocean mapping, highlighting pioneering figures like Marie Tharp, whose work revolutionized our understanding of the seafloor and contributed to the plate tectonics revolution. She explores how the field has shifted from a niche domain to a collaborative global effort, involving diverse expertise from across the world.…
    • Contributor: Ferrini, Vicki
    • Date: 2024-11-21
  • Film, Video
    Mapping in the Islamic Tradition: Ṣūrat al-Arḍ In a presentation entitled “Ṣūrat al-Arḍ: Ways of Seeing Islamic Depictions of the World and Beyond,” Karen Pinto, associate scholar of religious studies at University of Colorado-Boulder, revealed a view of the world from the perspective of the rich Ṣūrat al-Arḍ Islamic mapping tradition, in which art, geography, religion and philosophy merge to present images with cosmographic origins and a spatial identity oriented to…
    • Contributor: Pinto, Karen
    • Date: 2024-09-19
  • Film, Video
    Modern Maps of Afghanistan and Their Critics In a presentation entitled “Surveying the Surveyors: Modern Maps of Afghanistan and Their Critics,” Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, professor of history at James Madison University, discusses the geographic space of Afghanistan in the context of imperial, national and military cartography in the modern era. The imperial era is considered through British colonial cartography in South Asia in which context a series of 19th century mapping…
    • Contributor: Hanifi, Shah Mahmoud
    • Date: 2024-09-19
  • Film, Video
    Extractive Place Naming Practices in Early Modern North America Lauren Beck, Canada research chair in intercultural encounter and professor of visual and material culture studies at Mount Allison University, Canada, examines extractive naming practices using exploration narratives and associated cartography from the 16th-18th centuries alongside Indigenous historical sources. Extractive place naming practices come in several forms in early modern North America. The first reflects European attempts to obtain Indigenous toponymy, whether for cultural…
    • Contributor: Beck, Lauren
    • Date: 2024-05-02
  • Film, Video
    Catawba Cartographies: Remapping the Indigenous Southeast S. Max Edelson, professor of history at the University of Virginia, makes a case that the Catawba Deerskin Map sought to correct errors observed on English cartography and suggest a new political geography for the region. English colonizers arrived in Kiawah — the Cusabo Indian region on the southeastern coast of North America — in 1670. To promote their new colony, the Lords Proprietors…
    • Contributor: Edelson, S. Max
    • Date: 2024-05-02
  • Film, Video
    Ernesto Capello: Mapping Mountains Ernesto Capello, professor of Latin American history at Macalester College and author of books and articles on maps and geography, discusses his new book on the challenges of mapping mountains throughout history.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2023
  • Film, Video
    Brent Lane on John White's 1585 Map of North Carolina Edward Brent Lane, a professor at Ohio University and a fellow at the Global Research Institute of the University of North Carolina, discusses John White's 1585 map of North Carolina's outer banks.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2023
  • Film, Video
    GIS Day 2023: Climate Cartographies Geography enthusiasts, teachers, students and professionals celebrate GIS Day across the globe with community events to highlight the benefits of geospatial science and technology in addressing the world's challenges. This year speakers from the Library's observance of GIS Day highlighted the role that geospatial data and GIS technologies can play to create positive change in the face of humanitarian challenges all around the globe.…
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2023
  • Film, Video
    Mapping the Electoral Demographics of the United States by John Hessler The Library welcomes Friends of the Library of Congress, Phillips Society, and Washington Map Society members for a discussion on Mapping U.S. elections through History by John Hessler.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2022
  • Film, Video
    GIS Day 2022: Exploring Humanitarian GIS Geography enthusiasts, teachers, students and professionals celebrate GIS Day across the globe with community events to highlight the benefits of geospatial science and technology in addressing the world's challenges. For GIS Day 2022 at the Library, speakers highlight the role that geospatial data and GIS technologies can play to create positive change in the face of humanitarian challenges all around the globe. Speakers include…
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2022
  • Film, Video
    Will Work for Maps The Library welcomes Friends of the Library of Congress, Phillips Society, and Washington Map Society members for a discussion on maps by Laura McElfresh.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2022
  • Film, Video
    The World of Ptolemy and the Birth of the Cartographic Atlas Explore images of rare atlases printed between 1475 and 1600 being shown together as a complete group for the very first time.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2022
  • Film, Video
    GIS Day 2021 Mapping Ourselves: Geographic Information Science and the 2020 Census "Mapping Ourselves: Exploring the 2020 Census" is a part of the international GIS Day events that take place at research institutions and universities around the globe. The Library of Congress has hosted GIS Day events for more than a decade. The programs always revolve around a specific current policy issue in which GIS is playing an important role. Last year the event centered on…
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2021
  • Film, Video
    Boundaries & Brigands: James McCarthy & the Mapping of Siam In a lecture on border demarcation as Siam (Thailand) came under increasing colonial pressure in the late 19th century, Harold Meinheit focused on James McCarthy, superintendent of Siam's Royal Survey Department and his efforts to map the country, and the relationship between the science of mapping, the wielding of power and the creation of borders.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division - Library of Congress. Asian Division
    • Date: 2020
  • Film, Video
    GIS Day 2020: Mapping the Pandemic Cases, Traces & Mutations For almost everyone in the world, the last few months have been unlike any experienced in their lifetimes. The current public health crisis, spawned by the outbreak of COVID-19, has shown that viral pathogens pose an ever-present danger to global human health and economic stability. For cartographers and epidemiologists tracking the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, trying to understand its evolution, zoonotic spillover and…
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2020
  • Film, Video
    Society of Geographers: For Women Who Know No Boundaries This all-day conference explored the contributions women have made to the field of geography and inspired participants to consider how women strengthen the practice of geography today through a series of illustrated presentations and "En-Lightning Talks" by some of the leading experts in the field including Nancy Lewis, Kavita Pandit and Susan Shaw.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2019
  • Film, Video
    Cartographic History of Afghanistan: Early, Modern and Colonial Periods Shah Mahmoud Hanifi discussed the complexity, innovation, redundancy and contradictions in the cartographic history of modern maps of Afghanistan. He focused specifically on 18th and 19th century mapping projects that emanated from British India.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division - Library of Congress. African and Middle Eastern Division - Library of Congress. Asian Division
    • Date: 2019
  • Film, Video
    In the Shadows of Notre Dame Afternoon Session The Library of Congress celebrated GIS Day with a series of talks on the use of geographic information science technology and 3D mapping in cultural heritage preservation and disaster response. The afternoon session concentrated on applications of the technology with case studies on historic building and engineering archives in cultural preservation, advanced spatial analysis and 3D mapping of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2019
  • Film, Video
    In the Shadows of Notre Dame Morning Session The Library of Congress celebrated GIS Day with a series of talks on the use of geographic information science technology and 3D mapping in cultural heritage preservation and disaster response. The morning session opened with a keynote address by Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, co-chair of the Congressional French Caucus focusing on Cultural Heritage Preservation Mapping and Congressional Policy. The morning also featured talks…
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2019
  • Film, Video
    GIS Day 2018 The Library celebrated GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Day with an all-day series of talks on the use of GIS technology in the federal government and academia. A Geographic Information System is a computer system for storing, analyzing, manipulating and displaying digital data that is linked to positions on the Earth's surface. GIS provides the modern basis for digital geographic analysis and map making.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2018
  • Film, Video
    Mapping the Great War A cartographic specialist and a military historian discuss maps and mapping during World War I.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2017
  • Film, Video
    GIS Day 2017: Humanities and Technology (Morning) Morning session of a daylong event highlighting geographic information technology and its impact on the work of policymakers, researchers and librarians in Washington and nationwide. Speakers included Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Mary Mazanec, Timothy Petty, Rae Best, Nick Schumate and Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.).
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2017
  • Film, Video
    GIS Day 2017: Humanities and Technology (Afternoon) Afternoon session of a daylong event highlighting geographic information technology and its impact on the work of policymakers, researchers and librarians in Washington and nationwide. Speakers included John Hessler and Owen Williams.
    • Contributor: Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division
    • Date: 2017