Over the past two to three decades, scholars in the humanities and social sciences have increasingly referred to a “spatial turn” of increasing attention to the place of geography and landscape in understanding society and culture. At the same time, historians have taken up the term spatial history to describe the ways in which they articulate geographical perspectives from their particular disciplinary approach. The reach of approachable desktop GIS and database design platforms, accessible satellite imagery, and online spatial visualization has amplified these trends.
This seminar is an introduction to literature, exemplary projects, methods, and tools for spatial history. At the same time, it is an effort to bring together several approaches that are not yet frequently joined. For instance, spatial history theory, method and exemplar are not well integrated, and we will approach the field from all three of these perspectives. Moreover, spatial history is seldom practiced at the global scale. World historians have not yet “put the world in world history.”
This class combines reading in theory and exemplars, interaction with online exemplars, and hands-on work with digital archives and tools. By the end of the class, students will understand the state of the art and possible future trajectories of spatial history as a field and its relationship with the field of world history. They will also be able to plan a spatial history project at the global scale, articulate its significance and scholarly contribution, and identify the sources, tools and expertise needed to complete it.