Digital Journeys: Using Place to Analyze Power, Borders, and Identity in Central Asia

This lesson uses the World Historical Gazetteer to get at a basic idea that students often miss early on, which is that places are not neutral and maps are not just describing what already exists. Using WHG, students look at how political authority, imperial rule, and later state-building projects shape borders, place names, and identities over time. The point is not just that things changed, but that those changes came out of specific decisions and still matter today.