Dr. James Smithies

Biography

James Smithies is a historian specializing in culture, ideas, and technology, with expertise in Research Software Engineering (RSE). He develops digital practices that apply computational tools and methods to subjects within the arts, humanities, and social sciences. His work includes the development of products such as websites, electronic books, and mobile applications, as well as the analysis of data from various sources like texts, images, and archives. In addition, he provides services such as digital libraries and archives to explore subjects across history, literature, philosophy, sociology, political science, and linguistics. His scholarly contributions include traditional articles, monographs, and digital outputs. He has experience in applying information management techniques in post-disaster contexts and has served as a registered supervisor for research students. Smithies previously worked at King’s College London as the founding director of the King’s Digital Lab and as a senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, where he contributed to the development of the CEISMIC Canterbury Earthquakes Digital Archive. His doctoral research examined the history of ideas in late twentieth-century New Zealand.

Research Interests

Experience