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August 29th, 2019
Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities Matt Hannah has been busily laying the foundation for an ongoing and robust discussion about digital humanities (DH) and to advance digital scholarship overall at Purdue. Since he started at Purdue in March 2018, he has put together and delivered many DH workshops and contributed to many digital scholarship projects and efforts on campus, and is developing a DH Studio in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education (HSSE) Library.
Recently, he also launched the Digital Interest Group at Purdue, which will meet monthly. Group members will discuss key scholarship ideas, projects, and concepts in DH, computational social sciences, Critical Data Studies, science and technology studies, digital history, data science, and more. The first meeting is set for 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11; visit http://bit.ly/dhigpurdue to sign up for the group (location to TBD). According to Hannah (who goes by @TinkeringHuman on Twitter), the group will also tinker with various methodologies and tools, write and share code, and discuss digital projects.
“We imagine this interest group will become a hub for anyone at Purdue interested in digital scholarship broadly conceived,” he noted.
In addition to advancing DH at Purdue, Hannah will advance DH internationally, as he has recently accepted a fellowship as a Fulbright Specialist with a few institutions in Morocco to set up a DH boot camp for digital scholars there.
Below, Hannah shares more about his upcoming fellowship and the DH work he will be doing in Morocco over the next three years.
Q. How did you come to know about this opportunity?
Hannah: Because of the work we’ve been doing in Digital Humanities at Purdue, I was contacted by Dr. Stacy Holden, an associate professor of history at Purdue, who specializes in the Middle East. She has been working in Morocco for many years, and she’s currently there on a Fulbright fellowship. She articulated an interest in Digital Humanities among faculty and staff she’s collaborated with in Morocco and suggested I apply for a Fulbright Specialist fellowship to organize intensive Digital Humanities workshops to be conducted over several days. I then worked with Dr. Christopher Lukasic to prepare an application, and, for a time, we weren’t sure whether our idea would be successful.
Q. You mentioned you will work with individuals in institutions in Morocco to set up a Digital Humanities boot camp. Tell me more about this project and/or projects. What will they entail?
Hannah: Fulbright Specialists serve shorter terms, generally around a particular project in which an expert in the field may be paired with an overseas institution to collaborate. Through Dr. Holden’s contacts in Morocco, I’ve been in communication with colleagues at Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tétouan and Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane to arrange week-long intensive Digital Humanities workshops. These workshops will cover the range of possible tools and methods so participants will gain a wide ranging set of skills in DH by the end of the week. In addition, I will coordinate with faculty and staff to consult on existing projects and initiatives.
Q. What do you hope to achieve with your boot camps?
Hannah: I am hoping to develop great relationships with Moroccan digital humanists and develop a strong network of international collaboration around the topic of digital scholarship. In addition, I plan to consult with faculty working on DH projects and lend assistance where I can. Finally, I hope to develop an intensive curriculum that I can teach at other universities around the world. I’m grateful to Fulbright for making such international relationships possible.
Q. What is the timeline for your boot camps over the next three years? Any collaborators you want to recognize, share information about?
Hannah: I’d love to visit other universities in Morocco to conduct similar workshops. Often, Digital Humanities gets discussed as though it were only an Anglo-American phenomenon, when we know scholars around the world are doing dynamic and exciting work. I also hope to develop this boot camp series into an offering I can teach at other international universities and colleges, as well as offer to interested parties at Purdue.
Q. Any other information that will be important to include that isn’t touched on the questions above?
Hannah: One key aspect of the Fulbright role is to gain knowledge from my hosts. I’m very much looking forward to discovering what Digital Humanities looks like in the Moroccan context and, through a process of collaboration, to expand my own scholarly horizons through the sustained conversations made possible by the Fulbright program.
For more information about DH at Purdue, contact Hannah at hannah8@purdue.edu.
Filed under: faculty_staff, general, HSSE, UncategorizedMay 29th, 2019
On Thursday, May 23, a Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations was held at Purdue University. Ashlee Messersmith, manager, thesis/dissertation, The Graduate School at Purdue University, and Michael Witt, associate professor, Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies, organized the event, with support from the United States Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Association (USETDA).
By Michael Witt, Head, Distributed Data Curation Center (D2C2), and Associate Professor of Library Science
The presenters at the Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) highlighted a wide variety of creative works produced by graduate students in earning their degrees, such as:
Graduate students will typically prepare and defend a written thesis, even if their research can be communicated in a more meaningful or impactful format than a document. There are other examples, such as software source code and research data, videos and photos from exhibits and performances, mixed media, dynamic websites, and much more produced by students; but this type of content is often left out of a traditional thesis.
In some cases, these non-traditional works could be considered as the primary product of the students’ scholarship — without the need for a written thesis.
Recent changes to the policies of Purdue’s Graduate School reflect a progressive approach and support for non-traditional theses, embracing both the opportunities and challenges they present for the Purdue’s faculty, thesis office, and libraries.
“As emerging technologies continue to influence higher education, we needed to set a precedent through which students are permitted to express their creativity,” Messersmith explained. “Exploring these influences and their implications was the focus of the symposium, which was held in the Wilmeth Active Learning Center. We invited experts to share ideas and brainstorm with participants who supervise theses and manage the processes and platforms for producing and archiving them.”
The opening keynote presentation by Professor and Dean of Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Martin Halbert addressed the landscape and life cycle of electronic theses and dissertations, as well as the ETDPlus resource.
The closing keynote, delivered by Jean-Pierre Hérubel, professor, Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies, dove into the history and culture of the doctoral dissertation, as well as variations and transformations of its purpose and form.
Other presentations from Purdue faculty and staff explored issues related to student perspectives, digital humanities, graduate college policies, research data management, digital preservation, and scholarly publishing. Throughout the symposium, participants discussed important questions related to sharing current practices; interfacing with faculty to observe and respect local cultures related to credentialing students; identifying concerns and opportunities for graduate colleges, libraries, and technology providers; and increasing collaboration within the University and among universities. A lively round of lightning talks in the afternoon featured specific examples of theses that challenge conventions from other universities.
Presentation slides and collaborative notes from the symposium are available on Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies’ e-Pubs repository at https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/etdgiantleaps/.
Filed under: events, faculty_staff, general
August 28th, 2018
Purdue University Libraries Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities (DH) Matthew Hannah is seeking proposals from Purdue University graduate students for DH travel grants and from Purdue faculty for DH innovation grants. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the deadline of May 1, 2019. More information about each grant opportunity is below.
These travel grants are available for Purdue University graduate students who are traveling to a conference to present original work occurring at the intersection of the humanities and technology. Funded areas of scholarship include: Digital Humanities, media studies, Science and Technology Studies, humanities informatics, scholarly editing, book studies, data science, archives, or museum studies. As part of the Integrative Data Science Education Ecosystem, and provided by the Digital Humanities Studio and Purdue Libraries, these travel grants will provide up to $600 for travel to a conference. While any graduate student is eligible, the presentation must relate to the intersection of technology and the humanities.
To apply or request more information, submit your abstract and a brief CV to Hannah at hannah8@purdue.edu by May 1, 2019. (Applications will be accepted until the deadline.)
Are you a Purdue University faculty member planning to add digital tools, methods, or media into your existing humanities course? Are you planning to propose a new course with digital tools, methods, or content in the next few years? As part of the Integrative Data Science Education Ecosystem, the Digital Humanities Studio and Purdue Libraries are offering innovation grants of $2,000 to faculty who will be significantly redesigning or revising their syllabi in the coming years to incorporate more digital methods, tools, or content into existing or new courses. These incentives provide funds for training, conference travel, equipment, or other support in the development or redevelopment of courses to include innovative digital methods and tools.
To apply or request more information, submit a brief CV, the syllabus you plan to revise, and a 1-2 page course proposal detailing the planned modifications, including discussion of new tools, methods, assignments, content, or other changes to Hannah at hannah8@purdue.edu by May 1, 2019. (Applications will be accepted until the deadline.)
Filed under: faculty_staff, general, HSSEMay 30th, 2018
One of the hallmarks of Digital Humanities is the notion of “tinkering,” of exploring new tools and technologies that faculty and educators can use in their scholarship and teaching. In a series of workshops sponsored by Purdue University Libraries, Purdue Libraries Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities Matthew Hannah (based in the Humanities, Social Science, and Education, or HSSE, Library) will introduce you to these new tools and discuss some ways to implement them in your research and pedagogy.
The individual workshop descriptions, with time/date location information, are listed below. All workshops are open free to Purdue University faculty members, students (undergraduate and graduate), and staff members, but registration is required and is available online at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6. Please complete one registration form for each workshop you plan to attend.
3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 27
Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC) 3045
Have you ever wished you could simply press a button and see the major topics of a novel or book of poetry? With this workshop on Voyant Tools, you can easily create topic models of any text. A topic model shows the most frequently used words in any given body of text, which allows scholars and teachers to design interesting and innovative lesson plans. Professor Hannah will begin with a discussion of “data” in the humanities, and he will direct you to some great online resources for accessing the plain text documents you will need for analysis. Workshop participants will then create a topic model of a corpus of poems, including word frequencies, text visualizations, and word tracking. Instructor will provide text to analyze. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.
3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 11
WALC 3045
Social network analysis is one of the growing areas in Digital Humanities research. Scholars and teachers are increasingly looking for easy-to-use software to visualize connections and relationships. In this workshop, you will learn the basic theory behind social network analysis including how to generate and insert data. We will create visualizations of some data provided by the instructor or you can bring your own! We will conclude by considering the pedagogical possibilities of social network analysis for the humanities classroom. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.
3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 25
WALC 3045
If you have ever wished you could have your students build a multimedia project for your class but weren’t sure how to do it, this workshop is for you! We will discuss the basics of Scalar, a free software platform for innovative digital publishing. With Scalar, you can add photos, text, music, videos, and other media to an essay, creating a hyperlinked rhizomatic publication that fully immerses the reader in a topic through a multitude of media. Even more exciting, Scalar allows you to visualize your materials, and we will consider the ways that adding quantitative data to your project’s benefits or detracts from your work. Because Scalar is so widely adopted by online repositories such as Hathi Trust, you can access the materials in the workshop or bring your own. We will also discuss the pedagogical possibilities for Scalar and look at some sample student projects. Materials needed: digital objects videos, sound files, and pictures. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.
3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, August 1
WALC 3045
Timelines are important components of humanities education and research. Whether charting the transmission of knowledge or the march of history, timelines allow us to visualize vast periods of time into easy-to-read infographics. With this workshop, participants will create their own timeline visualizations using Timemapper, a free and accessible timeline software. The skills you learn here will allow you to assign your students new explorations into the humanities and social sciences. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.
3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, August 22
WALC 3045
Have you ever wanted to incorporate archival research into your classroom? With Omeka’s free archiving platform, you can assign students to upload content and create their own archives. This easy-to-use platform offers exciting possibilities for your lesson plans, allowing students to explore original material using the Dublin Core metadata standards used by libraries and museums for digital content. In this workshop, we will discuss what Dublin Core is and how to access and use Omeka. Each participant will bring three digital items (music, video, PDFs, texts) to begin creating an original archive, and we will discuss the various metadata categories, as well as the plug-ins, offered by Omeka. Materials needed: 3 digital items. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.
For more information, contact Hannah at hannah8@purdue.edu.
Filed under: events, faculty_staff, general, HSSE, UncategorizedApril 6th, 2018
Learn about how faculty and staff at Johns Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries are building research infrastructure to support open scholarship for a range of disciplines—spanning the sciences to the humanities—at the Purdue University Libraries’ upcoming guest talk by Sayeed Choudhury.
The Associate Dean for Research Data Management and Hodson Director of the Digital Research and Curation Center at Johns Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries, Choudhury will present “Research Infrastructure for Open Scholarship” at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 26 in Stewart Center, room 320. The talk is free and open to the public.
“Over the course of 20 years, at the Sheridan Libraries, we have learned and adapted our approach based on both local developments on university campuses and broader developments within the private sector and government sector (including data management plans, in the latter case). While there are multiple units on any research campus that play an important role in building and supporting research infrastructure, the library may be uniquely positioned to support a diverse set of researchers, and perhaps more importantly, to identify possible interrelationships or connections between those disciplines,” he explained.
This talk offers an opportunity to hear about the Sheridan Libraries as a case study within the broader context of open scholarship and research infrastructure.
G. Sayeed Choudhury, who is a President Obama appointee to the National Museum and Library Services Board, is a member of the Executive Committee for the Institute of Data Intensive Engineering and Science (IDIES) based at Johns Hopkins. He is also a member of the Board of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) and a member of the Advisory Board for OpenAIRE2020. He has been a member of the National Academies Board on Research Data and Information, the ICPSR Council, the DuraSpace Board, Digital Library Federation advisory committee, Library of Congress’ National Digital Stewardship Alliance Coordinating Committee, Federation of Earth Scientists Information Partnership (ESIP) Executive Committee and the Project MUSE Advisory Board.
Additionally, he has served as Senior Presidential Fellow with the Council on Library and Information Resources, a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins and a Research Fellow at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the recipient of the 2012 OCLC/LITA Kilgour Award. For more information about Choudhury, see www.library.jhu.edu/staff/g-sayeed-choudhury/ and https://members.educause.edu/sayeed-choudhury.
Choudhury’s talk is sponsored the Purdue Libraries Seminar Committee.
Filed under: general, Open_Access, press_release