Digital and Spatial Humanities for Historians
Objectives
1. Acquire a critical view of the Digital Humanities and Spatial Humanities fields 2. Develop a critical view about the available tools for spatial analysis
3. Acquire expertise working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
4. Recognize the advantages and limitations of using a GIS in the Humanities
5. Applying the concepts and techniques of Spatial Humanities to a research project
General characterization
Code
02106316
Credits
2.0
Responsible teacher
Joana Catarina Vieira Paulino
Hours
Weekly - Available soon
Total - 56
Teaching language
English
Prerequisites
Available soon
Bibliography
Alves, Daniel. 2014. «Introduction: Digital Methods and Tools for Historical Research». International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing 8 (1): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3366/ijhac.2014.0116.
Bodenhamer, David J., John Corrigan, e Trevor M. Harris, eds. 2010. The spatial humanities: GIS and the future of humanities scholarship. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Crimble, Adam. 2021. Technology and the Historian: Transformations in the Digital Age. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
Gold, Matthew K., and Lauren F. Klein, eds. 2016. Debates in the Digital Humanities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Gregory, Ian N, and A Geddes, eds. 2014. Toward Spatial Humanities: Historical GIS and Spatial History. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Knowles, Anne Kelly. 2016. «Historical Geographic Information systems and Social History». Social Science History 40 (4): 741–750. https://doi.org/10.1017/ssh.2016.29.
Warf, Barney, and Santa Arias, eds. 2009. The spatial turn: interdisciplinary perspectives. London: Routledge.
Teaching method
There will be theoretical and practical classes. The theoretical ones will be devoted to an introduction of the main concepts and ideas regarding the Digital Humanities and the spatial analysis, followed by discussions about their application to the Humanities with the students. During the practical classes, the methodology will be explored, recognizing its impact and limitations. The tools available will be the basis of the work, performing several exercises based on data representative of the sources used in the Humanities disciplines.
Evaluation method
The final grade is based on:
- in-class participation and exercises [40%];
- one final work to apply the spatial analysis methodologies to historical sources and problems, developed in a computer environment [60%].
In-class participation will be assessed by the students’ interventions in the debates on theoretical classes, comments on papers or methodologies presented, by performing specific exercises related to the content of the class and by their participation in collaborative tasks during practical exercises. The final work will correspond to the application of the several methodologies explained, using historical sources to develop several analysis and visualizations. In the end, the students must produce a GIS or Web-GIS visualization using a specific software presented in class. The topic of these analysis and visualizations can be choose by the students with the approval of the instructor.
Subject matter
1. Theoretical approach to Digital and Spatial Humanities
1.1. Introduction to Digital Humanities: concept, evolution and current state of art
1.2. The spatial turn and the Humanities
1.3. From Historical-GIS to the Spatial Humanities
2. Review of spatial analysis tools
2.1. Do we need a GIS?
2.2. Do we need a GIS on our PC?
2.3. Do we need to buy a GIS?
3. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
3.1. Definition of a GIS
3.2. How a GIS works
3.3. Types of data and metadata
3.4. Using a GIS in the Humanities: projects and applications
4. Using a Geographic Information System
4.1. How to structure spatial data
4.2. Creating a project and working with the software
4.3. Exploring, analyzing and visualizing
Assignment: students should perform a practical exercise by using the GIS software introduced in class and the available datasets.
5. Developing your own spatial humanities project
5.1. Working with your data
5.2. Hands-on approach to Spatial Humanities
5.3. Final discussion
Assignment: students will develop a detailed plan to build the final assessment work.