Please join me in welcoming Franky Abbott to the University of Alabama. She is our Post-Doctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities. Her contact info is:
Phone: 348-0767
Email: frabbott@ua.edu
Office: Gorgas 105
Stop by or send a greeting!
Jason and Tom Guest Lecturers @ UMD
Based on a presentation Jason, Shawn, and Tom did last fall at the Library and Information Technology Association National Forum on the ADHC, we were approached to teach a session on digital humanities at the University of Maryland iSchool. We are in the process now of remotely delivering this session.
Post-Doctoral Appointment
March 21, 2012
The University of Alabama Libraries and the College of Arts and Sciences are pleased to announce the appointment of Frances “Franky” Abbott to the position of Post-Doctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities, a dual appointment in the University Libraries and the History Department / Summersell Center for the Study of the South. Ms Abbott is completing her doctoral work at Emory University’s Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts. Her dissertation is Black Migration to Atlanta: Popular Representation and Metropolitan Space, 1990-2011.
In this position Ms Abbott will be focusing on continuing her research and expanding the outreach of the Alabama Digital Humanities Center, established in 2010 to support faculty digital research in the arts and humanities. She will bring to campus visiting experts in the digital humanities, consult with faculty on specific projects, plan and lead discussions and training workshops, engage faculty and graduate students in the use of digital technology in research and pedagogy.
We are delighted to have Ms. Abbott join The University of Alabama family and look forward to working with her to advance the digital humanities at UA. She will begin her fellowship in early June.
Invisible Gorillas Are Everywhere: Interesting, perhaps controversial, piece
Academe Today, January 24, 2012, Invisible Gorillas Are Everywhere.
William Pannapacker reviews the 2011 HASTAC meeting (see keynotes here) and comments on technology and the digital humanities debate.
There is also mention of the MLA and AHA guidelines for evaluating digital projects. I’m guessing that would be the following:
- http://www.mla.org/guidelines_evaluation_digital
- http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2001/0110/0110pro1.cfm
Since we have touched on how to evaluate projects previously, perhaps this would be a good discussion item.
Another Interesting Take on What is Happening in DH
Matt Gold’s “Whose Revolution? Towards a More Equitable Digital Humanities” presentation at MLA 2012:
http://mkgold.net/blog/2012/01/10/whose-revolution-toward-a-more-equitable-digital-humanities/
Proposal for Change in Graduate Education in the Humanities
I came across this post from Bethany Nowviskie of UVa that was highlighted in the Chronicle Academe Today. I include both links as they have different comments associated with them.
- http://nowviskie.org/2011/it-starts-on-day-one/
- http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/it-starts-on-day-one/37893?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
I’m interested in a local discussion of these matters in terms of what we are offering graduate students as we inculcate them into a discipline and prepare them to use today’s tools of scholarship. Your thoughts?
Recent MLA and AHA Meetings
The Chronicle of Higher Education has reported some details on these two meetings, e.g.,
- http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/pannapacker-at-the-mla-2-the-come-to-dh-moment/42811?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
- http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/pannapacker-at-the-mla-1-an-emerging-consensus-in-the-humanities/42799?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
- http://chronicle.com/article/Historians-Reflect-on-Forces/130262/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
I know that some of you attended these meetings. Any observations, thoughts, summaries, concerns, lessons you would like to share?
Digitizing VHS Tapes
The deck and software (iMovie) are now back in place.
Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Digital Humanities
It’s for real: http://www.lib.ua.edu/digitalhumanities/post-doc.
Please share this announcement with colleagues. We’d like to have a large pool of applicants.
Ability to convert VHS to digital on hiatus
We have discovered that the software/hardware installed for converting VHS tapes to digital video files is not working properly. Thus, we have removed the equipment and are seeking better software.