Before we begin our mapping project, let’s take a few moments to familiarize ourselves with GIS within the context of Digital Humanities.
What are the Digital Humanities?
Digital Humanities (DH) applies computers and digital technologies to humanities research. The advancement of technologies, including the internet, smart devices, processors, chips, and augmented reality, has expanded its scope in the past decade. Digital Humanities encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and uses digital tools and methods for innovative analysis and effective presentation of research findings. These approaches enable the use of creative visuals and interactive graphics, facilitating the sharing of research with a global audience.
What is Geographic Information Systems (GIS)?
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in digital humanities enable art historians to incorporate spatial analysis into historical, cultural, and literary studies, thereby facilitating a deeper examination of artistic exchange and cultural interactions. GIS enables scholars to perform spatial analysis, helping uncover new insights, such as tracking people’s movements, mapping historical events, and visualizing the geographical distribution of artistic exchange and cultural interactions. It aids in storytelling, enhances research by providing spatial context, and enables interactive and dynamic data presentations that can engage a broader audience.
Acquiring GIS skills gives humanities students digital tools to investigate how geographic and regional factors shape societies, including artistic production and cultural interactions. GIS allows students to map historical events, visualize changes over time, and analyze spatial relationships in art and culture. It reveals patterns and connections that might not be obvious in traditional text-based analysis. GIS skills are also valuable in the job market, offering opportunities in landscape and urban planning, heritage preservation, and visualization by making research dynamic and engaging.
Below is a small list of Digital Humanities projects that use themes of geography, space, and/or cartography: