Skip to main content

University Libraries exhibit is a multi-disciplinary teaching resource

Visitor looks at Topophilia exhibit ceramics

Ceramic installations by Rita Vali

When Assistant Professor Tracy Quan brought her SPAN 4215 class to the Earth Sciences & Map Library to view the exhibit Topophilia, the assignment was simple: students were asked to engage with the exhibit and free-write their thoughts in Spanish and English.

Quan is one of several CU Boulder instructors from departments such as Environmental Design, Geography and Women and Gender Studies who brought their classes to view Topophilia this semester and used it as a teaching opportunity. The exhibit runs through August 2025 and is available for instructors wishing to bring classes from any discipline and incorporate it into their teaching.

“Since my class is neither a geography nor art class, it was interesting to witness how my students were able to make interdisciplinary connections to our study of language and more specifically Spanish, through noticing what language was present on the maps and how language may create (or not) a sense of home,” said Quan.

The exhibit features topographic maps interspersed with map-based works of art and asks viewers to consider their own relationships to place. Combining the ancient Greek terms, ‘topos’ and ‘philia,’ the term topophilia means ‘love of place.’ The maps curated for the exhibit are historic examples of topographic cartography juxtaposed with contemporary mapping techniques. The artworks—prints by Johanna Mueller and ceramic installations by Rita Vali—explore topophilia on a more personal level.

The exhibit has long been an aspiration for Map Curator and Outreach Coordinator Naomi Heiser, who was joined by co-curator Sam Cartwright, a PhD candidate in Geological Sciences and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

Heiser and Map Library Program Manager, Ilene Raynes, hope more instructors will use the exhibit throughout the spring and summer to support their teaching because its theme is relevant to many disciplines.

For professors interested in incorporating the exhibit into their coursework, Heiser and Raynes work with teaching faculty to collaboratively develop a class session that meets curriculum goals. With instructor input, they customize assignments that interact with the exhibit. Cartwright will also speak to classes about the history of space mapping as well as naming conventions in space, which was the focus of a brief presentation for Quan’s class.

Students gathered to look at Topophilia works for a class

Students from a class gather to view works in the exhibit

For GEOG 2053 and 3053 courses, the librarians worked with Geography Professor Sarah Schlosser to create an extra-credit assignment where students were asked to reflect on the theme of ‘home’.

In response to Mueller’s prints, fourth-year Environmental Studies major Clementine Clyker wrote, “I understand topophilia to be a sense of self and community. When in a place where I experience topophilia, I feel at home. Things feel at peace and the world goes still.”

For the same class, third-year Physics major, Hunter Anders, wrote about one of two large lunar maps featured in the exhibit. He had never seen such a detailed map of the moon and noted that the map was made before the first lunar landing in 1969.

“The techniques used to render three-dimensional areas show how cartography can enhance the appearances of maps and make them so real,” said Anders, “This piece arguably embodies topophilia, ‘the love of a place’ to me, since I have always found a personal fascination with the night sky.” 

 

Interested in scheduling a class visit to view Topophilia? Contact rad@colorado.edu to schedule an appointment with Raynes and Heiser to discuss your course goals.