Place names, latitude/longitude coordinates, qualitative relations (“next to”), spatial forms (lake, county, road): these are all different examples of spatial information that humanities researchers regularly encounter in sources from the past.
In this module, you will learn to use such information to think spatially with a critical mindset. Doing so will allow you to answer “where?” questions that can shed light on intellectual, cultural, political, social, economic, environmental, literary histories, the history of science and technology, as well as other historical humanities fields (archaeology, historical geography, classics, media studies).
The module provides a grounding in the foundational and current literature in the spatial humanities and opportunities to practice working with digital methods for spatial data creation, exploration, and analysis, including traditional Geographic Information System software (ArcGIS), pythonic geographic data science, network analysis, and browser-based tools for data annotation/visualisation/mapping.
Hands-on tutorials will focus on case studies from eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century French and British history and will highlight how Enlightenment and Victorian ideas and technologies are at the root of many basic spatial concepts and tools still in use today.
You will develop your own spatial analysis of a set of historical sources chosen from your previous research experience.
Here is what our students have said about the module
“The sessions... feel more inclusive and collaborative than I had imagined. It feels like a shared space, with the openness to express ideas or queries.”
"The large amount of theory in the class is really surprising - in a good way. Initially I thought this class would be mostly practical-based and workshop style, but the inclusion of readings has made it far more engaging.”