I became interested in ‘thinking topologically’ while researching the movements of global cultural products.  I wanted a way of thinking about movements of objects in space that was able to address how these objects moved and transformed but stayed the same, and a conception of space that was dynamic.  And some of the reading I was doing made me think topology might be helpful.  I’ll give a brief presentation outlining how I came to describe the ‘biographies’ of these objects, and then go on to say something about the kinds of issues this way of thinking raises for me. Topology seems useful to me not only or as well as a source of metaphors and a repertoire of applications, but as a site of conceptual development and reflexive thinking about models.