Maps are everywhere-- on the walls of classrooms, in the daily newspaper, pre-loaded as an app on smartphones. These maps are as much the product of artistic choices as a painting, as much a product of bias and research as a news article, and as much a product of technological expertise as an app, yet somehow as a society we subject them to a lower level of scrutiny than other forms of media. No map can possibly be 100% accurate, so how do cartographers decide what to show and what to leave off? How are the maps that we see in the news and share on facebook potentially misleading? How can you lie (and have no one catch you) with a map? In this class, we will discuss the many technological, geographic, and aesthetic choices that go into making a map. Armed with this knowledge, students will analyze and critique famous maps, and then use GIS (computer mapping software) to design and produce a map of the Boston area.