Public Humanities, Early American Studies, and the Digital Revolution
Start Date
29-10-2017 10:30 AM
End Date
29-10-2017 12:00 PM
Description
Can the digital turn in humanities scholarship produce more fruitful engagements between post-secondary institutions and the many publics that exist outside the academy? To engage this and related questions, this presentation will focus on Mapping Colonial American Publishing (http://cds.library.brown.edu/mapping-genres/), a collaborative project that uses library catalog data from two of Brown’s rare book libraries to visualize the history of publishing in the Americas before 1800. Our recent efforts at engaging audiences beyond the academy has produced as many questions as answers. We’ve wondered, for instance, what topics might draw readers to a subject that often draws more yawns than clicks, and how we might we use the digital to connect with the world outside the academy through partnerships with local historic sites, coordinating with museums and local public humanities groups, for instance, and/or elementary, middle, and/or secondary schools in order to advance the goals of all communities involved?
Type
Presentation
Session
#s2a: Re-Envisioning and Reclaiming History, moderator Mark Sheftall
Language
eng
Location
Elaine Langone Center, Walls Lounge
Public Humanities, Early American Studies, and the Digital Revolution
Elaine Langone Center, Walls Lounge
Can the digital turn in humanities scholarship produce more fruitful engagements between post-secondary institutions and the many publics that exist outside the academy? To engage this and related questions, this presentation will focus on Mapping Colonial American Publishing (http://cds.library.brown.edu/mapping-genres/), a collaborative project that uses library catalog data from two of Brown’s rare book libraries to visualize the history of publishing in the Americas before 1800. Our recent efforts at engaging audiences beyond the academy has produced as many questions as answers. We’ve wondered, for instance, what topics might draw readers to a subject that often draws more yawns than clicks, and how we might we use the digital to connect with the world outside the academy through partnerships with local historic sites, coordinating with museums and local public humanities groups, for instance, and/or elementary, middle, and/or secondary schools in order to advance the goals of all communities involved?