Dear all,
Please consider applying for the following panels at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo sponsored by The Lazarus Project and The Rossell Hope Robbins Library at the University of Rochester. Please send all papers to hrdavies5@gmail.com. The deadline for paper abstracts is September 15.
ColLABoration
Scholars have increasingly found themselves wrestling with the institutional and structural problems inherent in practicing the digital humanities within the modern university. Many have found that the traditional “lone scholar” approach so long embedded within humanities scholarship does not often translate well to large-scale DH projects, which may require skills in everything from (for example) multiple coding languages to paleography to imaging technology. At the Lazarus Project, we have adopted a laboratory model — in an English department — to approach the multifarious aspects of DH work that cannot and should not be the responsibility of any one person. We are looking for papers that deal with the advantages and disadvantages, problems and solutions, faced by scholars who have tried to integrate a collaborative or laboratory approach to the digital humanities within traditional humanities departments. These may be abstract (theory based), concrete (accounts of specific projects that faced these issues), or anything in between. Of particular interest might be the challenges of pitching and publishing interdisciplinary work and the tendency within traditional humanities fields — and traditional university bureaucracies — to value single-author publications and solo scholarly endeavors more highly than those involving co-authors and collaborators. We furthermore welcome papers that address interpersonal issues such as mentoring undergraduates in the digital humanities, integrating first-generation college students, awarding credit to collaboratively-produced results, and integrating the collaborative lab-based model into external departmental and interdisciplinary conversations.
Mind the Gap: Bridging Departments and Disciplines in the Digital Humanities (Roundtable)
At many universities and institutions, digital humanities projects exist in pockets around campus, tending as they do to spring up where individual professors are driving initiatives or leading projects. This roundtable seeks contributors who have participated in digital humanities projects that faced the issue of disciplinary divides. Accounts of interdisciplinary projects are welcome, as are theoretical examinations of the means of bridging the gap between different conceptual frameworks and practical treatments of organizing DH endeavors across departmental divides. How have you helped to foster an inclusive working environment that makes space for students and scholars of diverse disciplinary backgrounds and interests? What ideological blindspots hinder collaboration between departments? How can we change institutional expectations to facilitate collaborations across departments and disciplines? What unexpected benefits have you seen as a result of these collaborative initiatives? Medievalists are particularly equipped to deal with these challenges as we frequently must frequently work across departments and disciplines. We want to bring this insight and experience to discussion on the digital humanities.