Spatial Visualization in/for Digital Humanities Research (DHSI 2026)

Description

This course is a gentle introduction to mapping and spatial visualization for storytelling in the digital humanities. Rather than focusing on a particular software or technical workflow, we will introduce a variety of mapping tools while evaluating respective affordances and limitations. Short lectures and demonstrations will be paired with hands-on exercises and collaborative problem solving, as well as discussions of emerging research areas in cartography and digital mapping. By the end of this course, participants will be aware of the breadth of maps and spatial visualizations possible in digital humanities work, understand their applicability, and have practical experience making them. The pacing and structure of this course is geared towards an audience of geospatial novices to intermediate mappers. While this course will involve some basic coding, no previous coding experience is required.

Instructor(s)

Alex Alisauskas is a Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian (Maps/Geospatial Data) at the University of British Columbia Library where she supports researchers in History, Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies, and Geography, as well as researchers hoping to incorporate maps, spatial methods, and GIS tools in their research. She holds a PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies, and prior to becoming a librarian, she was a professor in art history and liberal studies and conducted research on contemporary art practices. Her current research explores artistic uses of archives, mental health in libraries, and inclusive pedagogical practices in digital scholarship.

Lily Demet is a PhD student in Geography at the University of British Columbia studying everyday spatial practices of navigating the city. Lily’s recent projects include “Making space for deep mapping: rendering theory as practice”, a research-creation master’s thesis in which they theorized through the digital construction of a website while walking Vancouver. Lily is also an artist and freelance cartographer, and teaches mapping and GIS workshops at UBC Library’s Research Commons.