September 4, 2008

Keiji Yano (Day 1, Part 1)

Keiji Yano (Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Ritsumeikan University)

Geographical Information Systems and Digital Humanities: Revolution or Evolution

Geography has experienced two revolutions in information technology since World War II; the Quantitative Revolution and GIS (Geographical Information Systems) Revolution. The former has introduced a positivist epistemological framework in Human Geography as well as statistical and mathematical methods. The latter has facilitated the dispersion of GIS as a tool for handling digital maps and given rise to GIScience as a new interdisciplinary research field. This paper explores the present situation and future prospects of Digital Humanities based on the experience of Geography and GIScience.