Digital and Spatial Humanities for Historians
INSTRUCTORS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course students will be introduced to the recent debates about Digital Humanities and on the specific field of Spatial Humanities. The goal is to make them aware of the achievements and difficulties of implementing a digital and spatial analysis of historical data as a way to solve specific historical questions. They will review and discuss several digital tools and methodologies for historical spatial analysis and apply those concepts and practical lesson in the development of their own research project.
CLASS SCHEDULE:
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
Assignment: students should read and comment in-class these two references:
Gold, Matthew K., and Lauren F. Klein, eds. Debates in the Digital Humanities 2016. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2016. (introduction chapter)
Knowles, Anne Kelly. ‘Historical Geographic Information Systems and Social Science History’. Social Science History 40, no. 4 (2016): 741–50. https://doi.org/10.1017/ssh.2016.29.
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?
Assignment: students should test the several tools presented and discuss their advantages and disadvantages for spatial analysis in History.
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
Assignment: students should review and comment on one specific project or online application of GIS for historical analysis.
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 using the GIS software introduced in class and using 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 detail plan to build the final assessment work.