New Open-Access Publication

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new article by Project Administrator, Philip Gooding. Entitled, ‘Mapping Agricultural Change in Eastern Africa: A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Approach to Early Imperial Sources, 1857–76,’ it is published open access in History in Africa. This article represents an output of two projects hosted by the IOWC:

• ‘Appraising Risk, Past and Present,’ funded by a SSHRC Partnership Grant led by Prof. Gwyn Campbell.

• ‘Climate History and Human-Environment Interaction in Equatorial Eastern Africa, c.1780-1900,’ funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant led by Philip Gooding.

The article builds on methods developed by former IOWC research assistants Luka Miro and Kareem Hammami in the digitisation and manipulation of historical maps for analysis in GIS environments. The author would also like to thank another former IOWC RA, Hamid Farahani, for his assistance with data collection.

Abstract:

This article uses digital Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to visualize changing crop choice over time in nineteenth-century equatorial eastern Africa. It maps the locations of crops mentioned in early imperial sources, using contemporary cartographic representations of the region as a base. This enables a novel visualization of changing agricultural potential and vulnerability to climate variability over time. The maps contextualize the growth of commercial and political centers, a series of famines during years and seasons of below average rainfall, and the well-known environmental challenges of the early colonial period.

JIOWS Vol. 9, Iss. 1-2 (2025) is out now!

We are very pleased to announce that the Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies has just published their ninth volume! Please find the entire volume here.

Table of Contents:

Editorial

Editors of the JIOWS, “Editorial Introduction,” 1: https://doi.org/10.26443/jiows.v9i1-2.218

Articles

Maya Vinai, Lakshmi Krishnan, Bhasura Sangeetika, “Crafting the Divine Ship: Understanding Indigenous Shipbuilding Practices through Performative Traditions,” 2-26: https://doi.org/10.26443/jiows.v9i1-2.221

Omer Awass, “Knowledge without Borders: Epistemic Communities, Dialogically Engaged Discursive Tradition, and the Transmission of Islamic Scholarship in the Eastern Indian Ocean World: Connections between Southeast and Western Asia,” 27-52: https://doi.org/10.26443/jiows.v9i1-2.224

Conversations

Alastair McClure, “In Conversation: Alastair McClure on Trials of Sovereignty: Mercy, Violence and the Making of Criminal Law in British India, 1857-1922,” 53-62: https://doi.org/10.26443/jiows.v9i1-2.227

Queries should be directed to the editors at jiows@mcgill.ca

IOWC WINTER 2026 Speaker Series Schedule out now

The IOWC’s Winter Speaker Series Schedule is now available. Talks will take place on Wednesdays at 3pm. Download the programme here.

IOWC Fall 2025 Speaker Series Schedule out now

The IOWC’s Fall Speaker Series Schedule is now available. Talks will take place on Wednesdays at 3pm. Download the programme here.

IOWC Research Featured in Digital Humanities Webinar

Our project manager, Dr. Philip Gooding, was recently featured in a CHOICE Media webinar entitled “Redefining research: Uncovering climate impact insights with digitized primary sources.” In this webinar, Dr. Gooding discussed the importance of historical archives to climate reconstruction, especially in the Global South. As he argues, they can help fill the gaps left by natural scientists, whose work has disproportionately focused on North America and Europe. Historical methods can be central to improving knowledge about regional climate systems, which can, in turn, improve models that project the future effects of global warming.