From Maps to Apps in Java: Grasping Space through Artefacts

Java is both a site and subject of research within Area Studies. Traditionally, this field has conceived of space through a static, map-like lens: fixed in time, bordered, centered, labeled, and viewed from above. Yet technological shifts (gameworlds, cyberspace, VR, ICTs) and sociopolitical developments (e.g., decoloniality, climate change) challenge this dominant model. There is growing recognition that humanity inhabits multiple spatialities—or arealities: ways of imagining, representing, and experiencing area. However, Area Studies has yet to systematically engage with this multiplicity. Addressing how to study these diverse arealities is now an urgent challenge and – beginning with Java – the central aim of this workshop.