Historical Themes and Patterns Revealed Via Technology at History Forum

History, when examined through a digital lens, can reveal previously unseen patterns. Dr. Robert K. Nelson will share how the use of technology can produce a digital atlas of American history at the annual History Forum lecture at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, in the Power Center Ballroom.

Without the Paraphernalia of Projector, Reel and Screen: Maps and the Practice and Presentation of History in the 21st Century, will be preceded by a welcome reception at 5 p.m.

Nelson, who currently serves as director of the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond, recently received a three-year grant to develop a visual representation of U.S. history. He will be able to produce maps that illustrate themes such as immigration, slavery and economics in more detail and nuance than previously possible. These data-rich maps will allow scholars and students to study change over time in a way that allows them to make connections and gain new insights.

“Basically, we’ll be considering how these new ways of visually representing U.S. history not only clarify, but cause us to fundamentally rethink some of our central historical understandings,” said Associate History Professor Dr. Elaine Parsons.

Nelson has directed and developed a number of digital humanities projects, including, Mining the Dispatch, Redlining Richmond and the History Engine. In addition to his collaborative grant project, Nelson is working on a text-mining technique called “topic modeling” to analyze nationalism in Civil War newspapers. This technique will be used to uncover themes and reveal historical patterns in massive amounts of text.

The Department of History’s annual forum has provided a venue for scholars to address topics of civic and academic interest for more than four decades. Attendance satisfies Act 48 credit requirements.

The history forum is free and open to the public, and registration is not required. For more information, visit the history forum webpage or call 412.396.6470.