The PeriodO project seeks to fill a gap in the landscape of digital antiquity through the creation of a Linked Data gazetteer of period definitions that transparently record the spatial and temporal boundaries assigned to a given period by an authoritative source. Our presentation of the PeriodO gazetteer is prefaced by a history of the role of periodization in the study of the past, and an analysis of the difficulties created by the use of periods for both digital data visualization and integration. This is followed by an overview of the PeriodO data model, a description of the platform's architecture, and a discussion of the future direction of the project.
In this position paper, we use the example of The University of Texas at Austin's Planet Texas 2050 (PT2050) to argue that the Grand Challenge (GC) framework for ambitious research initiatives must create meeting grounds for transdisciplinary integration of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), arts, and humanities, along with community perspectives. We trace the historical trajectory of GCs, and reframe GC initiatives within the literature of inter-and transdisciplinarity. We present PT2050 as a case study of the infrastructural supports and imaginative process for creating level meeting grounds for transdisciplinarity. We demonstrate the benefits of these meeting grounds through projects, products, and funding generated. We contend that engaging arts, humanities, and community in co-design from the beginning is critical because complex, urgent challenges such as the climate crisis are embedded in human societies and demand solutions based in understanding of social, cultural, and historical contexts as well as STEM applications.
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