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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY
COURSE CODE: "AS 399"
COURSE NAME: "Special Topics in Studio Art: Critical Mapping"
SEMESTER & YEAR:
Fall 2025
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SYLLABUS
INSTRUCTOR:
Cornelia Lauf
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS:
TH9:00 AM 11:45 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS:
45
CREDITS:
3
PREREQUISITES:
One previous course in Studio Art. This class requires a materials fee of €75/$85 to cover all basic art supplies.
OFFICE HOURS:
by appointment
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COURSE DESCRIPTION:
May be taken more than once for credit with different topics.
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SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
Students will engage with Rome and its own self-imaging via site visits and readings, as well as weekly studio practice. Possible outcomes the presentation of personal maps in a publication and/or exhibition context.
Students are expected to index their impressions through personal expression and will learn to see historical documents as active, creative, and critical tools, both subjective and objective in nature. The aim of the course is to encourage creative self-awareness, and aid individuals in finding uniquely personal methods of picturing, using the historical construct of maps as a means of delineation.
An art historical overview of the material forms of map-making (Week One) will be followed by five weeks of guided site visits, in which students record (medium optional) and create a mood board or outline of a final art project to be developed with the guidance of the course instructor, and input of classmates. The latter half of the course is dedicated to the creation of a subjective map, to be realized and presented, with potential exhibition, by the end of the semester.
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LEARNING OUTCOMES:
LOS 1: Familiarity with highlights in contemporary art and cartographic history
LOS 2: Ability to integrate into personal artistic practice
LOS 3: Overview of historical documents, reading history critically.
LOS 4 Familiarity with Rome, on foot. Walking as part of map-making.
LOS 5: Public engagement and exhibition
LOS 6: Engagement with the critical process, working with peers during studio crits.
LOS 7: Exploring literary, poetic, research and writing skills through artmaking
LOS 8: Participation in a transdisciplinary project
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TEXTBOOK:
| Book Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN number | Library Call Number | Comments | Format | Local Bookstore | Online Purchase |
| Viaggio in Italia | Luigi Ghirri | Quodlibet | 9788822822816 | | | | | |
| A Map of the World, The World According to Illustrators and Storytellers, Berlin: Gestalten, 2020. | Antonis, Antoniou, | Gestalten | 13: 9783899554694. | | | | | |
| A Map of the World, The World According to Illustrators and Storytellers, Berlin: Gestalten, 2020. | Antonis, Antoniou, | Gestalten | 13: 9783899554694. | | | | | |
| An Atlas of Extinct Countries | Defoe, Gideon | Europa Editions | 978-1-60945-680-1 | | | | | |
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REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
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GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
| Assignment | Guidelines | Weight |
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| Final Assignment | A final mapping project created either individually, or in team, under the supervision of instructor, and with the benefit of group crits.
Should demonstrate knowledge of art historical precedent, exploration of material possibilities, ingenuity in creating a map/personal cartography within the allotted timeframe and exhibiton possibilities. | 60% |
| Mood board | Due in the first month of the course, this device is a mirror and collage of the student's inspirations and artistic direction. | 15% |
| Attendance and Class Participation | Attendance (10%) and Class Participation (15%) are immaterial but fundamental aspects of the course. | 25% |
-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality shows excellent mastery of the course content along with exceptional levels of technical skill, artistic awareness, originality, resourcefulness, commitment, quantity of work and improvement. There has been excellent collaboration and leadership in group projects, and there have been no attendance problems.
BA highly competent level of performance with work that directly addresses the content of the course, with a good quantity of work produced.
CAn acceptable level of performance: the work shows awareness of the course content, but is very limited in quantity, quality, commitment and skill.
DThe student lacks a coherent grasp of the course material and has failed to produce much work.
FNegligent in attendance, academic honesty, engagement with the course content, or production of work.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________
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ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic
dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred.
In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment,
may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of
academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student
who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from
the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation
to the President, who will make the final decision.
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STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap.
Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning
of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
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SCHEDULE
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Week 1: Introduction - Maps in the hands of artists, architects, and explorers.
Reading: Antonis, Antoniou, ed., A Map of the World, The World According to Illustrators and Storytellers, Berlin: Gestalten, 2020. 13: 9783899554694. [RESERVE]
Week 2: Visit to the Forma Urbis, to Michelangelo’s Campidoglio design, and to maps in the Musei Capitolini.
Reading: Jerry Brotton, A History of the World in Twelve Maps, London: Allen Lane, 2012.
Week 3: Visit to the Museo delle Civiltà, EUR, for contemporary practices of restitution, revising of borders, indigenous mapping, and addressing historical injustices.
Reading: Grafton, Anthony, and Daniel Rosenberg, Cartographies of Time: A History of the Timeline, Princeton, NJ and New York: Princeton University Press: 2010.
Week 4: Visit to the Istituto Geografico and library consultation of historical maps and surveys.
Reading (websites): StoryMaps, Forensic Architecture, Center for Land Use Interpretation, The Long Now, Monument Lab, Historical New York, OpenStreetMap
Week 5: Visit to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Mappamondo by Alighiero Boetti
Reading: Defoe, Gideon, An Atlas of Extinct Countries, New York: Europa Editions, 2020. ISBN 978-1-60945-680-1 [RESERVE]
Week 6: Pizzeria Piranesi: Students will use photography to document the popular use of maps of Rome, as found in businesses, lobbies, and offices throughout the city. Visit to historic print shops. Discussion of visual tautologies and nation-building in the work of Luigi Ghirri, Guido Guidi, and postwar Italian photographers.
Reading: Ghirri, Luigi, Viaggio in Italia, originally published by Feltrinelli, 1984, republished, Milan: Quodlibet, 2024. ISBN 9788822822816 [REQUIRED]
Week 7: Visit to an artist or collective dedicated to remapping Rome (e.g. Andreco, Stalker, Pietro Ruffo, et al.)
Week 8-14. Studio Practice, in which maps can be created digitally or manually, as individual or participatory group projects. Crit time, both group and individual.
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