Organizer: University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Description: 

This presentation illustrates ways to facilitate configuring historical data with geospatial tools featuring Southeast Asian research utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) point locations of ancient trade routes and religious sites of the region linked to enriched spatial information. The project interacts with various research fields, and integrates many different types of data and analytical styles developing enhanced research methodologies that have possibilities of creating paradigm shifts and multi-vocal views in the humanities and social sciences. The research has found that sea ports are orientated with mountain peaks serving as navigational points of reference. 3D mapping has provided new guidance for developing the best practice standards applied to databases giving interactive multimedia utility aspects. This has allowed uniting the context of landscapes with cultural and language data components for making new possibilities in spatial humanities for local community and scholarly exchange.

The Speaker:

David Blundell (PhD, Anthropology, UCLA; Professor Emeritus, National Chengchi University) founded and co-directed the Asia-Pacific SpatioTemporal Institute (ApSTi) Digital Humanities Group of the Research Center for Chinese Cultural Subjectivity during his tenure at National Chengchi University (Taipei, Taiwan). He is currently affiliated with the UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies and serves as Honorary Professor at the Centre of Austronesian Studies (University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK). His research and publications concern South and Southeast Asia, anthropology of religion, Buddhism, visual anthropology, archaeology, aesthetic anthropology, and geographic information systems (GIS) mapping languages and cultures.

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