[apologies for cross-posting]

I'm co-teaching a course at Rare Book School this summer, June 9-13 (RBS is located in Charlottesville, VA, but we are teaching at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia). The course is THE MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, and we (Will Noel and myself) are hoping to get a good mix of students with primary interest in (medieval) manuscripts, primary interest in developing software for working with (digitized) manuscripts, and some with both. If this sounds like you please consider applying, and please share this message with colleagues who may be interested. You can also contact me off-list if you have any questions.

Link to the course description (Application link in the left-hand menu): http://www.rarebookschool.org/courses/manuscripts/m95/

And I'm pasting the full description below:

This course is designed to introduce students of both the digital humanities and manuscript studies to the concepts and realities of working with medieval manuscripts in the twenty-first century. Through the course, students and faculty will examine materials from the collections of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts, as well as digitized versions of those materials and others.

Students in the course will consider four issues relating to using medieval manuscripts in a digital world. The first issue is theoretical, considering the relationship between medieval manuscripts and their digital counterparts, and questioning the notion of digital surrogacy. What does "digital surrogacy" mean and how might it affect our consideration of the physical objects represented through the surrogate? The second issue is the practical one of imbuing best practices when creating digital assets out of medieval manuscripts. If we are to digitize manuscripts, how can we ensure that those digital versions are the best they can be? And again: what does that mean? The third issue concerns the present landscape for digital medieval manuscripts (and medieval studies more generally), including current publication technologies and the place of Open Data. The fourth issue is that of building resources with and for digitized medieval manuscripts. What tools are available to enable us to create something new? As a final project, students and faculty in the course will work together to build something new--either "hacking" an application to display and sort medieval manuscript data, or creating an exhibition using an existing platform (such as Omeka). The specific direction of the final project will depend upon the skill sets available in the room.

Students should plan to bring a laptop with them to class.

In their personal statement, applicants should indicate their background, special interests, and expectations from the course. They should clearly state their experience working with manuscripts or manuscript-related courses they have taken, as well as any experience using digital technologies. Although it is expected that some students will have some technological experience, it is not a requirement for the course.