HKHC Speaker’s Series, Dr. Kwong Chi Man, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong

Spatial History as Method: Using the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong as Example, 1941-1945

Speaker: Dr. Kwong Chi Man, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Date and Time: 1 Apr 2025, 3:30 – 5pm (UKT)
Venue: Lecture Room 8, Arts Complex, University of Bristol / Zoom
Language: English
Hybrid event. To attend, please register on Ticketpass.

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Previous research on Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation period often focused on the brutal rule of the Japanese army and the suffering of civilians and prisoners of war. However, these descriptions sometimes lacked details on space and its changes. The speaker’s recently completed “Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong: A Spatial History Project” attempts to reconstruct the urban space of Hong Kong during the occupation period. The project team collects historical materials from Chinese, British, American, and Japanese sources, and uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to establish details about the Japanese military government’s administrative planning, economic activities, military deployment, public health, and underground resistance. This allows researchers and readers to understand different events and trends in specific spatial contexts. This lecture will discuss in detail the historical materials and technical aspects of this project, introducing the possibilities of revisiting history using digital humanities and spatial history methods.

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Dr. Kwong Chi Man is an associate professor in the history department of Hong Kong Baptist University. He specialises in the military and naval history of modern East Asia, particularly from the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) to the 1970s. He has published Eastern Fortress A Military History of Hong Kong, 1840–1970 (co-authored) and Hongkongers in the British Armed Forces. His works can also be found in Modern Asian Studies, War in History, and Journal of Military History. Recently, he released a number of Digital Humanities projects, such as the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong: A Spatial History Project:

https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/japanese_occupation_of_hongkong/