New Map Projection Unveiled at
Premiere Geography Convention

For immediate release:

Contact Kate Larson - 800-736-1293, (Email: odtstore@odt.org)

An alternative view of the world was unveiled at the National Council for Geographic Education conference on October 16-19, 2002 in Philadelphia, PA ( http://www.ncge.org ). Every educator at the event received a copy of the new Hobo-Dyer Projection map.

The new map is the result of collaboration among leading cartographers, radical designers, graphic artists, and organization development consultants. Published by ODT, Inc. of Amherst, MA the new Hobo-Dyer map is on-line at Hobo-Dyer Maps

While the purpose of most maps is to pursue some sort of an agenda, the purpose of the new Hobo-Dyer is to inform the public that every map HAS a hidden agenda. The Hobo-Dyer is an Equal-Area map, like the Peters map that was featured on the hit TV show, West Wing, last year. On West Wing, a fictional group, Cartographers for Social Equality, “freaked out” President Bartlet’s press secretary, C.J. Craig, by flipping the world upside-down and putting south on top.

The Hobo-Dyer map does this one better! Not only is south on top, but the map is centered on the Pacific Ocean. The Hobo-Dyer map is printed on both sides: It is south-up with Australia in the center on one side, with the more traditional north-up (and Africa-centered) on the other. Both images are exactly the same, but side-by-side you can hardly believe it!

Workshops in Philadelphia on the Hobo-Dyer map were lead by Ward Kaiser, Dr. Denis Wood, and Dr. Bob Abramms. Session topics included: Thinking About Maps as Propositions Instead of Representations; Maps As Icons; Where is the Center of Your Earth?, and How To See Through Maps. The last workshop, presented by Kaiser and Wood, challenged teachers to question their assumptions about cartography, as well as images and representations of all kinds.

Kaiser and Wood worked for two years to create a remarkable new book, Seeing Through Maps: The Power of Images to Shape Our World View, published by ODT less than year ago.

LOOK at a map? We do it all the time. But to SEE THROUGH a map, and discover its silent assumptions? That's a whole other task. And much more rewarding.