This lecture explores a wide range of digital texts and online projects that seek to develop new understandings of worldwide migration, including representing and negotiating contested identities. The particular focus is on readings and interpretations of the impacts of the slave trade as a key historical example of the mass movement of people. Digital innovations have led to new data-driven methods and the creation of vast online resources. The talk will introduce the field of digital migration studies and digital mapping, and will refer to an Australian Research Council-funded project on the development of digital tools for biographical narratives and data relating to the legacies of British slavery in Australia.
Prof. Paul Arthur is Vice-Chancellor’s Professorial Research Fellow and Chair in Digital Humanities and Social Sciences, at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. He speaks and publishes widely on major challenges and changes facing 21st-century society, from the global impacts of technology on communication, culture and identity to migration and human rights. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has held visiting positions in North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, including the Dr R. Marika Chair of Australian Studies at the University of Cologne. His forthcoming book is Open Scholarship in the Humanities (with Lydia Hearn, Bloomsbury).
Thursday, 12 January – 14:00 – Hörsaal C, University of Cologne
