RERUN: The Power of Place with Ruth Mostern

Today, we're revisiting one of our favorite conversations from Educating to Be Human — and much has changed since we first recorded it. Back in September 2024, Lisa sat down with Ruth Mostern, Professor of History and founder of the World Historical Gazetteer, to explore how our sense of place influences the way we understand our past and our identities. 

Through her groundbreaking project, the World Historical Gazetteer, Ruth enables historians and the public alike to visualize and contextualize historical events and relationships geographically, transforming static history into dynamic, place-based storytelling. 

Since that conversation, we've seen how place names and their meanings continue to shift - and spark debate - reminding us just how deeply history is woven into geography. This year, Ruth and her team also launched something brand new: the Institute for Spatial History Innovation, or ISHI, at the University of Pittsburgh. https://ishi.pitt.edu/ - now the new home for the World Historical Gazetteer.

Resources:

The Institute for Spatial History Innovation: ishi.pitt.edu 

Ruth Mostern at University of Pittsburgh: www.history.pitt.edu/people/ruth-mostern