Visualization in the Humanities
Project Description: In what ways can historians take advantage of visualization techniques in the presentation and communication of historical arguments?
Last updated: 2017-06-21 00:00:00 +0000 UTC
In what ways can historians take advantage of visualization techniques in the presentation and communication of historical arguments? Can we, through data-drive and visualization-driven research, shape new methods of revealing ambiguity, complexity, and exploration of the past?
My notes and research into visualization in the humanities feeds several areas of current work:
- A book chapter on evidence visualization in history (in progress)
- A potential course on data visualization in history (planning)
- A journal article on visualizing evidence in history (in progress)
- My larger professional interest in digital history and new methods of knowledge production
Analyzing the AHR
I want to know what sorts of visualizations (charts, figures, graphs, maps, tables) historians use in their publications. To visualize the visualizations, as it were. A sensible place to start is by looking at the entire run of the AHR.
2016-02-11
Talked to Lincoln about the idea; interested in collaborating.
Started downloading articles using a JSTOR -> Zotero workflow, and using Zotfiles to push PDFs to a separate folder. I’m only grabbing articles; not “Documents” or “Book Reviews.” In 1915, “Notes and Suggestions” are introduced, I’m continuing to ignore these.
2016-02-16
AHR Forum introduced in June 1978 (vol 83 no 3).
Companion to Digital History
I’m under contract with Wiley Blackwell for the Companion to Digital History edited by David Staley. I’m authoring a piece on historical approaches to data visualization.
Historical Visualizations
- Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Chronological history of the United States, arranged with plates on Bem’s principle (1856)
- Moses Greenleaf, “Maine, inhabited part.” (1829)
Digital
- Michael Friendly, milestones in data visualization timeline
- Michael Hatten, “Historical Charts and David Ramsay’s Narrative of Progress“
- Scott Klein, “Infographics in the Time of Cholera“
- The Bombing of Britain, 1942: Visual Display of Quantitative Data
- Susan Schulten, “How A Civil War Vet Invented The American Infographic“