What can old maps teach us about world history? What sorts of evidence do they offer, and is displaying evidence the main purpose of these maps, or can they do other things?
How did U.S. and American Indian artists portray Indian peoples of the West in the late nineteenth century? What relationships exist between representations of American Indians in art and the histories of U.S. settlement?
How has the West been imagined as both America’s manifest destiny and a wild frontier? In what ways do American Indian art and literature challenge these popular narratives of the West?
What are the connections between exploring new territories and making visual representations of those territories? How do artists relate to the territory's indigenous people? In what ways do mapmakers and artists promote, protect, or displace the cultures and landscapes they portray?