{"id":142,"date":"2017-05-31T23:29:59","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T23:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecomputationalage.com\/?p=142"},"modified":"2019-05-20T18:22:28","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T18:22:28","slug":"breaking-new-ground-computational-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecomputationalage.com\/index.php\/2017\/05\/31\/breaking-new-ground-computational-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking New Ground: Computational History"},"content":{"rendered":"

The American Historical Review <\/em>(AHR) broke new ground in April 2017 by presenting in its AHR Forum<\/em> a series of articles based on what has become known as the digital humanities<\/em>.[1]<\/a>The forum<\/em>, entitled \u201cMapping the Republic of Letters,\u201d offers a glimpse into an exciting development for those seeking a career in historical writing and teaching. New computational tools are reshaping the landscape of research.<\/p>\n

The series showcased the use of large sets of digitized 18th<\/sup> century documents to create maps revealing relationships buried within. The result revealed the patterns and characteristics of English architectural students on Italian Grand Tours as they soaked up ideas that would remake England.<\/p>\n

This forum<\/em> opens the path for those interested in re-exploring historical topics and periods with fresh eyes.<\/p>\n

Informal Style. <\/strong> It\u2019s worth noting the difference in the relatively informal language used by Prof. Dan Edelstein and his colleagues in \u201cHistorical Research in the Digital Age: Reflections from the Mapping of the Republic of Letters.\u201d Terms, like hefty, hodgepodge, patchwork, fuzzy, blurry,<\/em> appeared in this article. As discussed in the \u201cWilson Center Challenge\u201d post, this article is consistent with an emerging standard that supports use of a less formal style, rather than systems language<\/em>, when discussing the use of computational tools.<\/p>\n

The quartet of articles<\/strong>, \u201cMapping the Republic of Letters: Introduction,\u201d \u201cHistorical Research in a Digital Age: Reflections from the Mapping the Republic of Letters Project,\u201d \u201cBritish Travelers in Eighteenth-Century Italy: The Grand Tour and the Profession of Architecture,\u201d and \u201cReading the Grand Tour at a Distance: Archives and Datasets in Digital History,\u201d offer a snapshot of a set of challenges and opportunities.<\/p>\n

Computational tools offer a second look at every period and every historical model. As reflected in the modest claims of the Stanford group, a sense of humor and humility in the face of uncertainty are in order. The Stanford group asked some basic questions:<\/p>\n

(1) When did the English architect \/ Grand Tourists travel?<\/p>\n

(2) How old were they?<\/p>\n

(3) Where did they go to school?<\/p>\n

(4) Did they stay around Rome?<\/p>\n

(5) Who paid for it?<\/p>\n

(6) What societies and academies did they join?<\/p>\n

(7) Where did they go to work when they got back?[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

These articles expose both the limitations of computational tools and their promise. Today\u2019s mappings look like \u201csignals intelligence\u201d, rather than traditional narrative chronology. The maps show, for example, a letter was sent, but not its content. So, instead of<\/p>\n

snapshots of the past, [you get] rather fuzzy, blurry pictures. The reveal the general     shape of things, orders of magnitude, and large-scale trends; they also draw our attention to microhistories that we might otherwise have missed.<\/em> [3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Mapping helps, but is not a magic bullet.<\/p>\n

Mapping and other computational tools don\u2019t replace traditional historical judgment.  They help identify emerging patterns to a trained eye. Mapping offers the prospect of a more textured history.    Computational texturing follows the tradition of histories told through the acts of background figures, as in Barbara Tuchman\u2019s A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14<\/em>th<\/sup><\/em> Century <\/em>(1978)[v] and Michael Woods\u2019 use of the village of Kibworth to tell The Story of England <\/em>(2010)[vi].<\/p>\n

Can \u201ccomplexity theory\u201d help explain historical events?<\/strong> Yes, it can, and in ways that only continued efforts to use computational tools will reveal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> –, \u201cAHR Forum: Mapping the Republic of Letters,\u201d American Historical Review, <\/em>Oxford Univ. Press, Cary, NC, April, 2017, at page 399; Edelstein, Dan, Prof., et al, \u201cAHR Forum: Historical Research in a Digital Age: Reflections from the Mapping of the Republic of Letters Project,\u201d American Historical Review, <\/em>Oxford Univ. Press, Cary, NC, April, 2017, at pages 400 \u2013 424; Cesarani, Giovanna, Prof., et al, \u201cAHR Forum: British Travelers in Eighteenth-Century Italy: The Grand Tour and the Profession of Architecture, American Historical Review, <\/em>Oxford Univ. Press, Cary, NC, April, 2017, at pages 425 \u2013 450; Kelly, Jason M., Prof., \u201cAHR Forum: Reading the Grand Tour at a Distance: Archives and Datasets in Digital History,\u201d American Historical Review, <\/em>Oxford Univ. Press, Cary, NC, April, 2017, at pages 451 to 463.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ceserani, Giovanna, Prof., \u201cBritish Travelers in Eighteenth-Century Italy: The Grand Tour and the Profession of Architecture,\u201d AHR, April 2017, at pages 427, 436-437,441-447.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Edelstein, Dan, Prof., et al, \u201cAHR Forum: Historical Research in a Digital Age: Reflections from the Mapping of the Republic of Letters Project,\u201d American Historical Review, <\/em>Oxford Univ. Press, Cary, NC, April, 2017, at pages 400 \u2013 424, pages 408-9<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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