Spatial Analysis in the Humanities

The question after changes in space offer a new aspect in interpreting written sources and material culture. This "spatial turn” enhances our understanding of historical processes and the geo-social ambience of texts. The integration of geographic information and the spatial positioning of events, places and processes is more than a mere graphical representation. Instead, maps can be regarded as a medium for transporting additional information to enhance the understanding of texts. Therefore, the visualization and analysis of spatial relationships may help to understand and to uncover previously obscured correlations and may raise new research questions so that the 'space' becomes an additional category of analysis.

This two-week workshop will cover different aspects of handling spatial information. After an introduction to GIS (Geographical Information Systems) in the first week, we will focus on the extraction of spatial data from various sources. Based on a visualisation of spatial information analytical methods may lead to new interpretations and perspectives in philological and historical research.