Texas Map Society Fall Meeting 2026
Mapping the Extremes – Polar Cartography
Oct 3, 2026 – Central Library, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas
The Texas Map Society invites paper proposals for its Fall Meeting, which will focus on polar mapping. This year, we are thrilled to host our meeting in conjunction with the 15th Biennial Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography, Oct 1-2, 2026. Their theme this year is “Frozen Frontiers: 500 Years of Mapping Antarctica”. The lecture series also marks the opening of a new Special Collections exhibit, “Frozen Frontiers: 500 Years of Mapping Antarctica,” which showcases Antarctic maps, books, and prints donated to UTA Libraries by former NBC 5 Senior Meteorologist and Texas Map Society board member – and longtime Editor of The Neatline – David Finfrock.
We invite submissions detailing innovative mapping of the Arctic and Antarctic. We seek to bring together map collectors, historians of cartography, marine scientists, geographers, archivists, digital humanities scholars, and others to explore the polar regions as a contested and evolving space.
We welcome paper proposals on, but not limited to, the role of maps in colonial claims; historical and modern methods of mapping the Arctic and Antarctic; environmental humanities; Indigenous geographies; the recovery of non-Western spatial knowledge and navigation traditions; borders and jurisdictions; and digital humanities projects.
As we are the Texas Map Society, we always welcome papers on the mapping of Texas, map collections featuring Texas, and other local mapping, regardless of theme.
Submission Requirements
We welcome proposals for individual 20-minute papers or pre-constituted panels.
- Individual Abstracts: 250–300 words.
- Panel Proposals: A 150-word session description plus short abstracts for each presenter.
- Short Biography: A 100-word biography can include relevant publications or projects.
Deadlines
- Proposals Due: August 20
- Acceptance Notification: the first week of September
Contact Information
Please submit all materials in a single PDF directly to TMS VP Lydia Towns at Lydia.towns@sfasu.edu
Contact Email
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