Making Sense of Digital Humanities
Held on the 21st of May 2014 at the University of Warwick and Monash University.
Videos and presentation slides
  Introduction |
 Perspectives - Amber Thomas |
 Projects - Dr Peter Groves |
|
 Projects - Dr Paul Prescott |
 Practices - Prof. Alistair Thomson |
 Practices - Dr David Beck |
 Open discussion |
Event background and description
This event drew upon perspectives, projects and practices at Monash and Warwick in order to make sense of the Digital Humanities (DH). Following an early-morning breakfast (UK), there was an 8am (BST) live connection to Melbourne (5pm AEST) in order to join their afternoon event. There were opportunities for open discussion between interdisciplinary teachers, learners, practitioners and researchers.
The umbrella term 'digital humanities' has its roots in the cybernetic and cultural revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s, which lead to early innovations such as Oxford's 'Teaching Officer for Computing in the Arts' in 1975 and a 'Centre for Computing in the Humanities' at Kings College London (from 1989). More recently, the UK has created postgraduate hubs for DH research and teaching, such as UCL's 'Centre for the Digital Humanities', the 'Digital Humanities Network' at Cambridge, and KCL's 'Department of Digital Humanities', which will now establish an undergraduate degree in 'Digital Culture' for 2015 entry. In 2012, the University of York held a 'digital humanities symposium' on virtualisation and heritage and in 2014 Warwick will host the first meeting of the IFTR working group for 'Digital Humanities in Theatre Research'. At Warwick in particular, IATL and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM) have recently collaborated in order to offer a range of postgraduate modules. In turn, this partnership builds upon excellent practice in the Centre for Cultural Policy Studies and the DH Academic Technologies Team. There are also outstanding examples of DH research and practice across both universities, and the moment has now arrived to begin a collaborative international dialogue about DH teaching and learning. It should also be noted that 'digital humanities' is a contested space for many scholars (e.g. Bryne 2007, Berry 2012, Gold 2012 and Rice 2013).
The Digital Humanities is a relatively new field in Australia, and while there has been activity in the area for some time, only recently has there been a drive to formalise and group the activity under the umbrella of “Digital Humanities”. The Australasian Association for Digital Humanities Inc (aaDH) was formed in 2011 “to strengthen the digital humanities research community in the region” and has already run two very successful conferences (Canberra 2012 and Perth 2014). As recently as May 2013 the University of Western Sydney appointed Professor Paul Arthur in the role of Chair in Digital Humanities, the first appointment of this kind in Australia; The University of Tasmania is currently recruiting for a Professor in Digital Humanities also. The Australian National University houses the newly renamed Centre for Digital Humanities Research and is offering its first undergraduate unit, #Hashtag Humanities in 2014.
Monash is following the same path that is being traversed on the national stage: much activity can be found throughout the university but efforts to co-ordinate such work in more formal structures are only beginning. The first undergraduate unit in Digital Humanities (Digital Humanities: Expanding Research Paradigms) will be taught in 2015, together with Warwick colleagues. Planning is also well advanced in the Faculty of Arts for a proposed Centre for Public History and Digital Storytelling (working title only). Such initiatives mean that Monash University and the Arts Faculty now have the opportunity to draw together current distinct activities under the Digital Humanities theme and take a role in national and international endeavours.
This event was launched by Simon Swain (Pro-Vice Chancellor, Warwick) and Associate Professor Peter Howard (Associate Professor of History and Deputy Dean, Faculty of Arts, Monash) and facilitated by Jonathan Heron (IATL, Warwick) and Simon Musgrave (Monash). The programme was designed to include short case-studies which were interwoven with open discussion. The first presentations featured DH 'perspectives' from Simon Musgrave (Monash) and Amber Thomas (Warwick), followed by example 'projects' from Shakespeareans Peter Groves (Monash) and Paul Prescott (Warwick). The final presentations concerned contemporary DH 'practices', with contributions from David Beck (Warwick) and Alistair Thomson (Monash). An open discussion was facilitated by Nathaniel Tkacz (CIM, Warwick) and the event concluded with digital networking.