BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Uncertain Date\, Uncertain Place: Interpreting the History of Jewi
 sh Communities in the Byzantine Empire using Geographical Information Syst
 ems - Dr Gethin Rees (Divinity)
DTSTART:20120314T120000Z
DTEND:20120314T140000Z
UID:TALK35232@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ruth Rushworth
DESCRIPTION:This presentation will examine how uncertain historical data c
 an be used to interpret the history of Jewish communities of the Byzantine
  Empire in a Geographical Information System (GIS). This research forms pa
 rt of the ‘Mapping the Jewish Communities of the Byzantine Empire’ pro
 ject which aims to use a GIS to integrate textual\, epigraphic and archaeo
 logical evidence. The project is based at the Centre for Advanced Religiou
 s and Theological Studies\, Faculty of Divinity\, University of Cambridge 
 and funded by the European Research Council (ERC). An important outcome of
  the project is the creation of an Internet GIS that will disseminate rele
 vant data through a standard web browser.\n\nThe economy of the Byzantine 
 Empire influenced the lives of Jews through their involvement in trade. A 
 robust understanding of geography is essential to the interpretation of tr
 ade and a GIS approach is an excellent way of examining this influence. At
 tributes of Jewish communities\, such as their location\, dates\, size and
  occupations of members\, are crucial to evaluating their role in the wide
 r economy. Yet historical references to these attributes are to varying ex
 tents uncertain: for example\, they can be contested\, ambiguous or unreli
 able. Such evidence is difficult to deal with in a GIS\, in part because a
  conventional system of symbols can convey an unwarranted air of reliabili
 ty. The challenges posed by the use of uncertain data in a GIS and the pre
 sentation of such data on the internet will be examined here. The solution
  offered quantifies qualitative attributes of Jewish communities and devel
 ops a system of symbols for use in the project’s Internet GIS. This pres
 entation has implications for the historical study of economies and minori
 ty religious communities\, as well as for the depiction and interpretation
  of varied humanities data in GIS. 
LOCATION:CRASSH\, Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, Cambridge\, CB3 
 9DT
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR