Week 5: The Spatial Turn: Historical GIS and Spatial History in Theory and Practice

What is GIS? What is historical GIS and how has it been applied to key episodes in American and European History? 

GIS is short for Geospatial Information Systems, and is a digital tool used in a variety of applications to promote the understanding of geography as it pertains to projects involving surveying, architecture, and even intelligence. The field is newer in comparison to other disciplines, evolving constantly as technology surrounds it. Even in the field of History, GIS is making a positive impact on understanding nuanced aspects of history. Anne Kelly Knowles makes an important distinction between the typical usage of GIS and the new, historical approach to using GIS in a research perspective; "The key difference between historical GIS and the vast majority of GIS practiced today is that its source data typically include archival material that must be converted from analog to digital form" (Anne Kelly Knowles, 452). The largest break that comes into the application of GIS into historical practice is the digitalization of data and the conversion of maps and charts from an analog format, unlike other GIS services that rely on current models of geography rather than comparing them to old models. Even with struggles present in the application process, notable work comes from the usage of GIS is history. Knowles shows how the European projects "NLKAART" and the Quantitative Database of Belgian Municipalities have mapped Dutch and Belgian municipalities from 1830 to 1994 and from 1800 to 1970 (Anne Kelly Knowles, 455). Further, in America, Richard White introduces the idea of "spatial history," and how by using GIS, we can further understand the development of the railway and it's influence on travel rates (White, 1-2). 

What is "Spatial History" and what distinguishes it from "normal" practice? 

As mentioned, White poses an argument for the usage of "spatial history" and it's practical means in education and research. I would personally define "spatial history" as the understanding and research on historical events with the focus of spatial evolution as a main idea and observation goal. White makes the claim that his idea of spatial history takes the idea of using GIS in history to new level; It requires collaboration, visualization beyond maps, an extensive understanding of digital history, open-minded understanding, and an extensive focus on space and time (White, 1). White further pushes in his article, discussing how the usage of GIS in  the way that spatial history calls for is what truly distinguishes the field of study; Using GIS in a normal focus is great for navigation and understanding direction, but it's spatial history that calls into what White calls "spatial representation" and pushes for the human evolution of spatial inhabitation (White, 5). White makes the claim that GIS is helpful to the understanding of spatial history and analysis, but only under the context that more work for representation is needed in understanding the human usage of absolute space over time; "A georeferenced map is a first step, but because it depends on absolute space, it has definite limits for historians... not all peoples at all times have constructed space in ways that can be easily made commensurate with absolute space" (White, 5). 

Is GIS essential to Spatial Analysis? 

There is conflict, however, in the understanding of how GIS is used in spatial history. Will Thomas pushed for the notion that the usage of GIS in a historical, even spatial analysis setting is contradictory to what historians advocate for in the expansion of the understanding of absolute space. In his own research, Thomas showed how the usage of  XML (Extensible Markup Language) in comparison to GIS services proved to be more helpful and linear in creating a narrative for his project; The presentation, contingency, and  the multiple perspectives that XML favored in creating a non-linear path ran counter to the specific, uncontrollable, and fixed precision that GIS required (Thomas, 6-7). Surely GIS has a position in the understanding of spatial analysis as White argued, but it is by far not the only medium to be used in understanding path and perspective. 

Why are spatial analysis and mapping so intriguing to historians?

The understanding of what makes spatial analysis and mapping so intriguing to the researcher and historian points back to the consistent fact that history is made of learned experiences; You can read a book about an event, but to visualize and second handily experience something is to take a step further into not only observation, but appreciation of the work of scholars and scribes. Dr. Tiffany Early-Spadoni pushes forward, noting explaining an elaborate network of trade with a good visualization can show readers the geographical extent, historical development and social intricacy of human civilization (Early-Spadoni, 99). Like Early-Spadoni says, the visualization of history provokes out-of-the-box thinking, and sparks a response in the knowledge and intricacy of understanding. Stephen Robertson takes a different approach, understanding how, as historians, digital history pushed for a different approach in understanding spatial awareness; The technology of digitalization since the 1970s has pushed for the inclusion of maps and spatial analysis, where it originally was not considered (Robertson, 25). 

The development of this medium not only added to research methods invoked by the technology of the 21st century, it sparked a shift in how we, as historians approach the understanding of geospatial relations in history and culture. Historical GIS is not the end all be all as pointed out by several authors, but it is a notable "shift" in the appreciation and control of digital history in the spatial realm that creates new questions. 

References

Earley-Spadoni, Tiffany. "Spatial History, Deep Mapping and Digital Storytelling: Archaeology’s Future Imagined through an Engagement with the Digital Humanities.” Journal of Archaeological Science 84: 95-102.

Knowles, Anne Kelly. Historical GIS: The Spatial Turn in Social Science History Download Historical GIS: The Spatial Turn in Social Science History, Social Science History 24, (Fall 2000): 451-470. 

Robertson, Stephen. “The Differences Between Digital Humanities and Digital History,” in Debates in the Digital Humanities. 2016.

Thomas III, William G.“Is the Future of Digital History Spatial History?” Newberry Library GIS Conference, 2004.

White, Richard. “What is Spatial History?” Stanford University Spatial History Lab, Working Paper, Feb. 1, 2010