Here and There, Then and Now – Modelling Space and Time in the Humanities

Spatio-temporal concepts are so ubiquitous that it
is easy for us to forget that they are essential to
everything we do. All expressions of Human culture
are related to the dimensions of space and time in
the manner of their production and consumption, the
nature of their medium and the way in which they
express these concepts themselves. This workshop
seeks to identify innovative practices among the
Digital Humanities community that explore, critique
and re-present the spatial and temporal aspects of
culture.
Although space and time are closely related, there
are significant differences between them which may
be exploited when theorizing and researching the
Humanities. Among these are the different natures
of their dimensionality (three dimensions vs. one),
the seemingly static nature of space but enforced
‘flow’ of time, and the different methods we use
to make the communicative leap across spatial and
temporal distance. Every medium, whether textual,
tactile, illustrative or audible (or some combination
of them), exploits space and time differently
in order to convey its message. The changes
required to express the same concepts in different
media (between written and performed music, for
example), are often driven by different spatiotemporal requirements. Last of all, the impossibility
(and perhaps undesirability) of fully representing a
four-dimensional reality (whether real or fictional)
mean that authors and artists must decide how
to collapse this reality into the spatio-temporal
limitations of a chosen medium. The nature of those
choices can be as interesting as the expression itself.
This workshop allows those working with digital tools
and techniques that manage, analyse and exploit
spatial and temporal concepts in the Humanities
to present a position paper for the purposes of
wider discussion and debate. The position papers
will discuss generalized themes related to use of
spatio-temporal methods in the Digital Humanities
with specific reference to one or more concrete
applications or examples. Accepted papers have been
divided into three themed sessions: Tools, Methods
and Theory. This workshop is part of the ESFfunded NEDIMAH Network and organised by its
Working Group on Space and Time. The group will
also present its findings from the First NeDiMAH
Workshop on Space and Time.
1. About NeDiMAH
NeDiMAH is examining the practice of, and evidence
for, advanced ICT methods in the Arts and
Humanities across Europe, and will articulate these
findings in a series of outputs and publications. To
accomplish this, NeDiMAH assists in networking
initiatives and the interdisciplinary exchange of
expertise among the trans-European community of
Digital Arts and Humanities researchers, as well as
those engaged with creating and curating scholarly
and cultural heritage digital collections. NeDiMAH
maximises the value of national and international
e-research infrastructure initiatives by helping Arts
and Humanities researchers to develop, refine and
share research methods that allow them to create
and make best use of digital methods and collections.
Better contextualization of ICT Methods also builds
human capacity, and is of particular benefit for early
stage researchers. For further information see http://
www.nedimah.eu.
The workshop will also be aligned and coordinated
with ongoing work at the DARIAH Project (cf.
http://www.dariah.eu ). DARIAH is a large-scale
FP7-project that aims to prepare the building of
digital research infrastructure for European Arts and
Humanities researchers and content/data curators.
2. Papers
2.1. Tools
Shoichiro Hara & Tatsuki Skino – Spatiotemporal
Tools for Humanities
David McClure – The Canonical vs. The Contextual:
Neatline’s Approach to Connecting Archives with
Spatio-Temporal Interfaces
Digital Humanities 2012
23
Roxana Kath – eAQUA/Mental Maps: Exploring
Concept Change in Time and Space
Kate Byrne – The Geographic Annotation Platform:
A New Tool for Linking and Visualizing Places
References in the Humanities
2.2. Methods
William A. Kretzschmar, Jr. & C. Thomas Bailey
– Computer Simulation of Speech in Cultural
Interaction as a Complex System
Karl Grossner –Event Objects for Placial History
Charles Travis – From the Ruins of Time and Space:
The Psychogeographical GIS of Postcolonial Dublin
in Flann O’Brien’s At Swim Two Birds (1939)
2.3. Theory
Maria Bostenaru Dan – 3D conceptual
representation of the (mythical) space and time
of the past in artistic scenographical and garden
installations
Eduard Arriaga-Arango – Multiple temporalities at
crossroads: Artistic Representations of Afro in Latin
America and the Hispanic World in the current stage
of Globalization (Mapping Cultural emergences
through Networks)
Kyriaki Papageorgiou – Time, Space, Cyberspace
and Beyond, On Research Methods, Delicate
Empiricism, Labyrinths and Egypt
Patricia Murrieta-Flores – Finding the way without
maps: Using spatial technologies to explore theories
of terrestrial navigation and cognitive mapping in
prehistoric societies
2.4. Discussion Objectives
- Bring together the experiences of researchers
developing or using spatial or temporal methods in
the Digital Humanities.
- Evaluate the impact of such methods in terms of
addressing traditional Humanities questions and
posing new ones.
- Explore non-investigative benefits, such as the use
of spatial and temporal tools and visualization as
means for contextualization.
- Identify where tools developed for spatial analysis
may be applicable to temporal analysis (and vice
versa).
2.5. Program Committee
- Jens Andresen, University of Aarhus
- Shawn Day, Digital Humanities Observatory
- Eero Hyvönen, Aalto University
- Leif Isaksen, University of Southampton
- Eetu Mäkelä, Aalto University