“Wars made Shanghai” gets an official head start

The coordinators (Prof. Ma Jun 馬 軍 and Chr. Henriot 安克強) and the members of the SASS team (Prof, Jiang Wenjun 江文君, Li Zhiming 李志茗, and Mou Zhenyu 牟振宇; Ph.D graduates Lu Ye 陆烨 and Yue Qintao岳钦韬) of the “Wars made Shanghai” project have held three work sessions in the course of April 2013 to get the joint research project started. Moreover, one of the members of the IAO team, Prof. Christine Cornet,  will soon be in Shanghai for research in the archives and will team up with the SASS scholars.

The first session held on 10 April was devoted to an overview of the project, the presentation of each participant’s  past and current research, the set of tools to be used in the implementation of the project, as well as the modes of collaborative work. All the participants contributed to a lively discussion of the challenges ahead.

During the second session on 17 April, Christian Henriot made a presentation of the French institutional setup, especially the system of joint research units (UMR) and the unusual mix of institutions that characterizes French research units. Henriot took the opportunity of this presentation to introduce a mind-mapping application (X-mind) to demonstrate the flexibility of this application for “brain-storming”. This was followed by Feng Yi’s (馮藝) presentation of the digital resources for research at the Institut d’Asie Orientale, especially BN-IAO (IAO’s digital library), which the participants will use in the course of the project.

Finally, Henriot introduced the participants to one of the major digital applications to be used, Actoz, designed and developed by Prof. Jean-Pierre Dedieu in France. Actoz is a Filemaker-powered application. It is based on a thorough analysis of what constitutes historical data and how such data can to be broken down into significant units. Actoz  is a most powerful tool not just to store historical data, but to establish multiple links, many unforeseen or invisible to the human mind, through the data, to keep track of all the original sources and documents, to establish elaborate genealogies, to handle all kinds of cultural objects in relation with their contributors, and to integrate spatial data. This short description does not make justice to the many features to be found in Actoz, but it seemed important to highlight what amounts to a serious attempt at historical modelling. Training sessions on Actoz are to take place in Lyon in the spring and the fall, with follow up sessions in Shanghai.

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In the last session held on 25 April, the participants turned to a presentation of their proposed main lines of inquiry in the joint project. They formulated research directions based on their previous scholarly achievements that can match the objectives of the project. While each will pursue one’s own line of work, each will contribute to the collaborative platform based on Virtual Shanghai. Since collaborative work also requires both discussion and coordination, participants will avail themselves of a closed-circuit Wiki for internal discussions and well a regular meetings, real or online, every two months. One of the major features of the “Wars made Shanghai”  project, aside from substantive research, will definitely be the use of a large array of dedicated digital instruments to promote a new approach to history in both China and France.

启动会议第三次会议

4月25日下午1点半至4点半,在历史所小会议室举行了启动会议的第三次会议,与会者有安克强、马军、李志茗、江文君、牟振宇、陆烨和岳钦韬。中方各位依次介绍了自己的研究背景,和介入本课题的独特路径。安克强则教授分别作了评点。启动会议自此全部结束。今后,各位将在彼此保持充分通讯联系的基础上,以“战争塑造上海”为大背景,各自展开独立的研究。

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启动会议第二次会议

2013年4月17日上午9时至12时,本课题组在历史所大会议室举行了启动会议第二次会议。到会者有安克强、冯艺、马军、李志茗、江文君、牟振宇、陆烨、岳钦韬。安克强教授先以里昂东亚学院为入口,向中方人员介绍了法国研究所系统的组织体系。进而又和冯艺一起介绍了东亚学院的网站及其内部的电子资源。最后,安教授展示了Actoz软件的起源和使用方法。抗战中的中国士兵

启动会议第一次会议

2013年4月10日下午,由上海社会科学院历史研究所现代史研究室主任马军研究员,与法国里昂东亚学院(Institut d’Asie Orientale)安克强(Christian Henriot)教授合作申请成功的法国国立研究基金会(National Research Agency)三年项目——“战争塑造上海”(Wars made Shanghai,1840—1952)在历史所小会议室举行启动会议。双方就研究计划、合作方式、运用工具以及预期成果,进行了广泛而深入的研讨。到会的还有作为该项目中方成员的李志茗、江文君、牟振宇、陆烨(以上为本所同人)和岳钦韬(复旦大学研究生)。其间,历史所副所长王健研究员亦曾莅临指导。

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