Using Scalar to Deep-Map Modern East Asian History

FAIN: HAA-266465-19

North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC 27695-0001)
David R. Ambaras (Project Director: January 2019 to February 2025)
Kate Linette McDonald (Co Project Director: July 2019 to February 2025)

The further development of the Bodies and Structures series on East Asian history and geospatial studies. As part of the project, the Scalar publishing platform would be improved to allow for the incorporation of additional spatial visualizations.

Cartographic maps visualize only a small part of the historical relationships and experiences that constitute spatial history. Yet they remain the mainstay of digital spatial history projects. Bodies and Structures captures the multivocality of spatial history. Built in the open-source platform Scalar, the site enables scholars and students to analyze the historical, multivocal nature of space and place in East Asia and beyond. We are applying for a Level II grant for September 2019-August 2021 to greatly enhance the site’s utility for teaching and research in modern East Asian history and the spatial humanities. During this period, we will enhance Scalar’s capacity for analytical visualizations and user-directed engagement; add twelve modules to expand the project’s geo-historical scope and provide new disciplinary perspectives; and use the new Scalar tools to design new maps and visualizations that locate the modules in the site’s new spatial historical environment.

Media Coverage

The Future of History: How New Tools Tap Into Diverse Perspectives on the Past (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Shipman, Matt
Publication: NC State News
Date: 1/18/2022
URL: https://news.ncsu.edu/2022/01/18/the-future-of-history/

Japanese Studies Spotlight: Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian History (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Paula Curtis
Publication: North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources
Date: 3/16/2022
URL: https://guides.nccjapan.org/homepage/news/news/Japanese-Studies-Spotlight-Bodies-and-Structures

(Re)Mapping Spatial History: An Overview of the Bodies and Structures Platform (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Matthew Hayes
Publication: Digital Orientalist
Date: 1/14/2022
URL: https://digitalorientalist.com/2022/01/14/remapping-spatial-history-an-overview-of-the-bodies-and-structures-platform/

Associated Products

Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian History (Web Resource)
Title: Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian History
Author: David Ambaras
Author: Kate McDonald
Abstract: Bodies and Structures 2.0 (http://bodiesandstructures.org) is a digital platform for researching and teaching spatial histories of modern East Asia and the worlds of which it has been a part. The project brings together the various engagements with critical human geography that are taking place in our fields – history, literature, and art history in general, and East Asian studies in particular. It consists of 17 individually authored modules, which examine a diverse range of topics, such as histories of disease and vaccination; narcotics trafficking; colonialism; migration; and urban life. These modules feature cutting-edge research on Japan (including Okinawa), Taiwan, China, Vietnam and Mongolia. (See Appendix for a complete list.) On top of this, the site uses tags, annotations, links, and visualizations to connect and cut across the modules, giving contributors and users the opportunity to think comparatively about space, place and power. Bodies and Structures 2.0 is built on the open-source Scalar platform (https://scalar.me/anvc/).
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://bodiesandstructures.org/bodies-and-structures-2/index

Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian History Outreach Activities Artifacts (Web Resource)
Title: Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian History Outreach Activities Artifacts
Author: David Ambaras
Author: Kate McDonald
Abstract: Digital artifacts for outreach presentations for the Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian History project
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://zenodo.org/communities/bodiesandstructures2/records?q=&l=list&p=1&s=10&sort=newest

---