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Jack Swab (he/him)

Education

University of Kentucky, MS Library Science (2022)

University of Kentucky, MA Geography (2020)

Penn State, BS Geography & BA History (2017)

About Me

I am a geographer broadly interested in the nexus of human geography and GIS/cartography. Specifically, I examine the effectiveness and utility of COVID-19 maps and the limits of these visualizations in public health communication as they relate to local administrative boundaries. More broadly, I am interested in technological evolution in cartography, map libraries, the intellectual history of geography, map studies, and queer spatial histories.

I am also serving as the Vice-Chair/Chair/Past-Chair for the American Association of Geographers Cartography Specialty Group from 2022-2024. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you may have about the Cartography Specialty Group!

Selected Publications:
Swab, Jack and Gieseking, Jack. Toward Queering the Map 2.0: a Conversation with Michael Brown, Lawrence K. Knopp, and Bo Zhao. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 24(4), 416-435.
 
Swab, John and Wilson, Matthew. Gwendolyn S. Curtis, curator of Kentucky’s Largest Map Collection. Journal of Maps and Geography Libraries, 14:2-3, 105-108.
 
Swab, John. “Mapping a Nation: Daniel Carter Beard’s Time as a Surveyor for the Sanborn Map Company.” Abstracts of the ICA, 1.
 
Swab, John. Review of “The Feminist Bookstore Movement: Lesbian Antiracism and Feminist Accountability” by Kristen Hogan. Antipode, p. 1-6. [https://radicalantipode.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/14.-john-swab_ak.pdf]
 
Swab, J.J. and Babcock, T., 2018. Surveying Northeastern Pennsylvania: Contextualizing the Flower-Walker Collection at the Tioga Point Museum. Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, 14(1), pp.9-20.
 
Swab, J.J., 2018. Review of Patents and Cartographic Inventions: A New Perspective for Map History. Cartographic Perspectives, (90).