Nov. 10 | Spencer Stewart: “Can We Quantify Cultural Change? Textual Analysis for History”

Dear all,

We invite you to attend the fourth session of the East Asia: Transregional Histories Workshop, to be held this Thursday, November 10. Please note that this workshop does not have an associated paper. Instead, Spencer will introduce the workshop to textual analysis methods and offer a demonstration to interested participants; he will also reflect on the utility of these methods for historical research.

Thursday, Nov. 10 | Spencer Stewart 

Postdoctoral Fellow, D. Kim Foundation and The University of Chicago

Can We Quantify Cultural Change? Textual Analysis for History

(CEAS Room 319, 4:00 – 5:30 pm CT)

Abstract: This workshop explores several different textual analysis methods and their application for historical research. In addition to providing a general introduction to methods such as collocations and word embeddings, we will test out these methods using the Chinese-language magazine Eastern Miscellany 東方雜誌 (1904-1948). We will discuss, among other things, the advantages and disadvantages of different tools, the difficulties of working with non-Western languages, along with whether or not it is possible (or even useful) to quantify cultural change. No prior knowledge is required.

We look forward to seeing you there. 

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with questions and suggestions.

All best,

Gabriel Groz and Xiangning Li

Nov. 8, Lunch Workshop ft. Aynne Kokas

Join the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights, the East Asia: Transregional Histories Graduate Student Workshop, and the Center for East Asian Studies for a special lunch program featuring Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia, Aynne Kokas, on Tuesday, November 8 at 12 pm US CT.

Workshop attendees are invited to read a piece, authored by Professor Aynne Kokas, that is closely related to her book, Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty.

Professor Kokas offers a framework to discuss when a community’s data is moved abroad without their informed consent, a practice she terms data trafficking. She analyzes Grindr, a LGBTQIA+ dating platform that has changed hands between China and the United States to demonstrate what data trafficking is, how it undermines national sovereignty, and how it erodes human rights. In the United States, corporate policies are the leading indicator for data governance practices, influencing a system known as multi-stakeholderism (DeNardis, 2013). In China, forced localization to government servers drives data governance practices (Mueller, 2017; Zeng et al., 2017; Kokas, 2022). Her article extends how we think about transnational consumer data security by examining how weak data security designed to support the growth of Silicon Valley firms amplifies the capacity of extra-territorial data governance practices asserted by the Chinese government.

Access her article HERE.

Registration is REQUIRED and space is LIMITED. Click HERE to secure your spot! (Lunch provided to registered attendees)