I concur with Dr. Gil's assessment below.

All best,

Roopika 

--

Roopika Risam, PhD

Assistant Professor of English

Chair, Program Area for Content Education

Salem State University

http://roopikarisam.com

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 7, 2017, at 11:05 PM, Alex Gil <colibri.alex@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Ernesto, and all,

I'd be happy to oblige on our end:

# Independence Model

CONS:

- Less incentives for our colleagues seeking to drive institutional change within ADHO and benefit from those positions.

- A possible exodus of members who were here because of ADHO status

- Lose chances of windfall from possible ADHO CO status: which could mean fellowships, essay prizes, travel bursaries, etc. for some of our most talented young scholars in the global south.

- We have to redo much of the infrastructure

- We might fail

PROS:

- Chance of working on projects that help us connect to new projects and people around the world

- Chance of establishing a model of governance that is representative by region on a planetary scale (unique in professional organizations in the humanities)

- Chance to discuss global production of knowledge outside the provincial concerns of ADHO
- Chance to inspire again

- Bury GO::DH with dignity if we fail

Dr. Risam, let me know if I left a bullet point out, or you would like to add anything.

Hope that helps!

a.

On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 3:44 PM, Ernesto Priego <efpriego@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you all for recent participations. Dan & Tunde, there's some lengthy work there. Thank you very much for sharing it.

Considering that there's more than 500 accounts in this list, and that only a tiny minority has participated actively in the discussions about the 'Referendum' it seems to me there's the danger a quiet majority may not have the time to carefully consider the options on the table, including, importantly, their potential consequences. 

Both proposals in full can be now consulted at length, but I'd like to kindly ask Roopi & Alex and Dan & Tunde to concisely answer the following, if they are willing, in this same thread, for the benefit of the rest of us:

In no more than 5 brief bullet points, what are the pros & cons of each your proposals, including (as most seem to agree GO::DH has achieved very good things) what you think could be the negative consequences if one or the other wins?

Think of us time-poor voters: what easy- to-remember & understand points would you like the 'quiet majority' of the membership to take home in order to help us decide?

Thanks in advance.

Ernesto (still a bit confused)

On 7 Nov 2017 19:24, "Alex Gil" <colibri.alex@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you ‘Tunde and Dan for this thoughtful and detailed proposal. This gives us a much clearer set of choices on December 1st, and I appreciate the labor you put into it.

Thank you too, Miguel, for your candor and analysis.

As we approach the election, I encourage members to add arguments in favor of either of the models at hand. Amy Earhart will soon be in touch with instructions.

Best to all from NYC,

Alex 

On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 2:00 PM O'Donnell, Dan <daniel.odonnell@uleth.ca> wrote:

Hi all,

'Tunde and I have come up with an articulation of what we think is our common position. This might be an alternative to Alex and Roopsi's proposal. Basically, the idea is that the "independence" option actually gets in the way of solutions to the other two problems they mention and that we should focus on those--particularly, perhaps, the governance issue.

Here's a link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MSkTVP3Xib4z4RfKB3eoutSW2FKILRmkFfnfnw2wMP4/edit?usp=sharing

It is set to comment, but we're happy to accept edit proposals.

-dan

 

Daniel Paul O'Donnell

Professor of English and Associate Member of the University Library Academic Staff

Editor, Digital Studies/Le champ numérique

Vice President, Force 11

Department of English and University Library

University of Lethbridge

4401 University Drive West

Lethbridge AB T1K 3M4

Canada

Tel. +1 (403) 329-2377

http://people.uleth.ca/~daniel.odonnell

@danielPaulOD

---

From: globaloutlookdh-l <globaloutlookdh-l-bounces@uleth.ca> on behalf of Miguel Escobar Varela <m.escobar@nus.edu.sg>
Sent: November 7, 2017 4:44:55 AM
To: globaloutlookdh-l, MailList
Subject: Re: [globaloutlookDH-l] December 1 Referendum | Election Official

 

Dear all,

I wish to thank Tunde for articulating his position so clearly. His words express perceptions also shared in Southeast Asia.

As Tunde, I believe that we should develop a strategy that strengthens our current position and that GO::DH should aim to be an infrastructure. Previous projects and efforts of GO::DH have brought necessary attention to many issues and effectively changed the course of action and vocabulary of ADHO. I also agree with those who note that the status quo is not enough and that a more global conversation is still a distant goal, but my preference is to continue working within the current, hard-won institutional position, as others have previously advocated for.

Although I am inspired by the chants for revolution, I personally favor a more timid – if realistic – strategy that works within ADHO. Slow institutional change is frustrating, but I believe there is sufficient momentum to push for bigger and greater things in years to come. I believe this is also a perspective that better expresses the interests of the communities I represent here. I am writing from the perspective of Southeast Asia, on behalf of colleagues with whom I have talked about these issues in past days. I work with digital humanists in Singapore and Indonesia, where there is growing interest in participating in global institutions more directly (if I have misrepresented anyone's position, I encourage other colleagues from here to join in this debate). Thus far, our international dialogue has been mostly limited to exchanges with colleagues from Japan, Taiwan and Australia, with occasional visits by some of us to the ADHO conferences.

Our own participation in GO::DH has thus far been mostly that of observers, but excited observers nonetheless. Through GO::DH we feel that we have a foot in the door of this distant house of international DH. As we peek in through the door, we realize the house might undergo radical renovation and might soon be unrecognizable. From the periphery, this all looks a little confusing. Taking an active role in the renovations seems like a daunting task, but we very much want to build things for the global digital humanities community. I look forward to working with the majority on whichever decision is reached.

Best regards,

Miguel

--
Miguel ESCOBAR VARELA, PhD :: Assistant Professor, National University of Singapore :: Director, Contemporary Wayang Archive (cwa-web.org) :: miguelescobar.com

Digital Humanities Singapore: digitalhumanities.sg

On 10/30/2017 03:49 AM, Tunde Opeibi wrote:

Dear ALL<

Many thanks for all the comments, contributions on the ongoing debate. I have refrained from joining the debate for some reasons. I needed time to reflect and understand the issues at stake.

I have a few thoughts I would like to share.

Let me start by thanking all our executive members(founding, former and serving) for their work and service to GO::DH and the global DH body(ies).  I  deeply respect the opinions of Alex and Roopsi as well the concerns of everyone that have shared one thought or another. I am aware that a few of us have some reservations concerning our place and position(future) within the global DH body(ADHO). While I share that concerns, I would suggest that we take some time off and reflect on some far-reaching implications of any decision we take, going forward.  

One, so far, to the best of my knowledge and relatively speaking, I believe if we have worked on more than a few societies, many of us would agree that  GO::DH  has not fared badly. We are not yet there but I believe it is work in progress.

Two, GO::DH should be seen as an infrastructure rather a project--something that exists to receive the ideas and identities of others rather than always pushing things. A platform, or a bridge that connects others to the world of DH.

Three, I believe therefore that being associated with ADHO would make us more accessible to new participants who are not well-connected.  Consider A grad student in Africa or  a scholar working on his or her own in eastern Europe or the Middle East is not going to discover our world if we go off in isolation. They will if we are the global part of ADHO.

Wouldn’t our isolationist proposal  reduce  the global nature and impact of the organisation? To my mind, GO::DH's success so far, in my view is a result of it being something that people see themselves in  rather than something that does something. It provides a safe space for people to engage with DH globally.  I think we should see how much we've accomplished rather than the way others(in other organisation) are treating us. If we turn  GO::DH  into a project rather an infrasturcture would it not reduce  its openness and effectiveness? 

Many of us here in the global south are now able to access and/or engage the global DH community through GO::DH.

Finally, I will just suggest  therefore that we should try and focus more on the vision and the ideals of GO::DH based on the philosophies of the founding fathers.  

Let’s  reflect more on the implications of any decision that will lead to a negative outcome for GO::DH and those in the far corners of the world looking up to GO::DH to shine the light through the labyrinth of emerging and fast-moving world of DH  debates and projects.

 I  advise that we step back a little, take a deep breath and reflect on the long-term implications of any decision we'll take vis-a-vis our relationship with the global DH communities. 

These are just my personal opinions and I will continue to respect the decision of the greater majority.

I thank you all for all your opinions and contributions and service.

With every good wish,

 

Tunde

 

On Fri, Oct 27, 2017 at 11:53 PM, Alex Gil <colibri.alex@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear all,

I'm happy to announce that a majority of the executive voted to hold the vote here on the list, in the membership. The referendum for the future of GO::DH will begin on December 1, as planned, and you will decide. I'm also happy to announce that Amy Earhart will be our election official. She will write to you approaching election day with instructions. We will probably keep the ballot open for a week to give as many of you time to get to the vote.

As of now we have 1 model on the ballot. If no other model comes forth between now and then, we will simply say that model 2 is the status quo, nothing changes. The discussion is still open, and I encourage voices we haven't heard from to discuss, even if you don't feel like you know enough to provide a good opinion.

Needless to say, whatever model wins, I will work with the executive to ensure an orderly transition.

Best,

a.

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--

'Tunde Opeibi, PhD
 Professor of Discourse Studies & Digital Cultures, University of Lagos

Visiting Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Univ. of Edinburgh

Life Fellow, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany

Member, Executive  Board, Global Outlook for Digital Humanities (GO:: DH)

Convener, Lagos Summer School in Digital Humanities

https://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/current-fellows

www.unilag.edu.ng; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tunde_Opeibi/stats

Tel: +234 8033122200

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