Cartography and Cartographic Semiology

With an increasing diffusion of cartographic language not only in the scientific domain but also with journalistic and communicative purposes in a broader sense, and with the multiplication of the tools available for the production of maps and charts, the course deals with cartographic practice in its different aspects: that of a communicative medium, which adopts graphic codes and conventions that condition its use and social circulation, even to the point of enabling its instrumentalization by power; that of a technical device that must adopt scientific methods of elaboration and representation to enable measurement of and movement in space.

Upon completion of the course, students will be equipped with the basic tools to understand and interpret cartographic products in their historical, thematic, and communicative variety. Students will be able to master the rules of cartographic language and critically comprehend a cartographic product, as well as to understand the technical operations that underly its construction. In this way, the acquired notions and knowledge will be useful in various fields of both professional practice and research.