MEETING SCHEDULE 

SHARED COMMITMENTS (NORMS)

• Respect, care, and consent in discussion.
• Don’t assume; ask.
• Everyone teaches; everyone learns.
• Syllabus is a living map — open to revision.
• Trauma-informed: participants can opt in/out of any exercise.
• Texts are entry points, not endpoints — we invite art, story, and lived knowledge.

SESSION BREAKDOWN

WHY CARTOGRPAHIES?

Why “Cartographies”?

The word cartography literally means “map-making.” In this course, it’s used metaphorically and methodologically:

1. Mapping Complexity
   • Violence is not a single event or form; it exists across bodies, communities, states, and histories.
   • “Cartographies” suggests we are not just looking at one layer, but tracing multiple intersecting systems of harm — structural, state, communal, environmental, and perceptual.
2. Spatial & Temporal Awareness
   • Maps orient us in space and time. By mapping violence, we pay attention to where it occurs, who it affects, and how it unfolds over time.
   • This includes slow violence (environmental degradation, debility) that accumulates invisibly, and historical violence that shapes present realities.
3. Agency & Perspective
   • Traditional maps are made by those in power. By making our own maps, we assert epistemic agency, documenting what is often erased or marginalized.
   • Mapping becomes a tool to reveal whose lives are visible, whose suffering is recognized, and whose is ignored — linking directly to Butler’s Frames of War.
4. Creative & Participatory Methodology
   • Maps are not only literal or visual; they can be written, poetic, performative, or digital.
   • “Cartographies” signals that participants are co-creators — drawing, writing, and shaping knowledge collectively, rather than passively consuming it.
5. Resistance & Possibility
   • Mapping violence is also a practice of imagination and transformation.
   • By tracing systems of harm, participants can identify pathways for resistance, care, and community accountability.
   • The course positions mapping as both analytical and generative: it documents harm and opens space for envisioning futures beyond violence.

WELCOME!

Dear Participants,

Welcome to Cartographies of Violence. I am so glad you’re here.

Over the next five months, we will gather monthly to explore how violence takes shape—across bodies, communities, geographies, and histories. This personal curriculum is designed as a space for deep inquiry, critical reflection, and collective learning.

Our journey will move through five core themes:

1. Introduction to Violence
2. Slow Violence
3. State Violence
4. Communal Violence
5. Perceptions of Violence

Each session will build upon the last, drawing on texts, discussions, and lived experiences to challenge the often invisible or normalized structures of violence that shape our world.

This is a community space, and its richness will come from the contributions each of us brings. We ask that you commit to active participation in our group discussions. This is not a lecture series or a passive learning environment—it is a co-created experience.

Please only join if you are able to be present, engaged, and respectful of the collective process. Your voice matters here, and so does your listening.

We look forward to learning with you.

In solidarity,

Karia