DHCU Irregular Season 2 Episode 4: If We Make It Through December
click through the image to enjoy the performance
The lyrics from the classic Merle Haggard song, ‘If We Make It Through December’ have been on my mind a lot, lately; they seem pretty appropriate, for obvious reasons… but one thing we did make it through was the Fall 2021 term.
This term has seen our largest cohort ever start the programme, some 22 students. And we have 16 students in their second year - I never imagined we could grow so large! I get talking with many of the students, and I sometimes get feedback on their courses, and, well, if you have something good to say about a class you’ve taken, or an article you’ve read, or a presentation you’ve watched you should let that person know! So hats off to Dan Papagiannis, who has done a stellar job this term and whose students have greatly appreciated the learning environment Dan created.
Sometimes, the most important ‘collaboration’ that happens in a digital humanities context is just letting someone else know that their work has made an impact.
Stéfan Sinclair
The First Stéfan Sinclair-CIHRN conference was held this past week. Stéfan passed away in 2020 (in memoriam). If you’ve ever encountered Voyant Tools you’ve been touched by his work. But, more broadly, Stéfan had a huge impact on digital humanities scholarship of all kinds. His was a real scholarly generosity, quiet, unassuming, and always framed as ‘yes, and…!’ When I first started at Carleton, I applied for a teaching with tech award. I was extremely wet behind the ears, nervous about everything I was doing. Stéfan, who at that point I didn’t really know very well at all, heard I was applying. Unprompted, he sent a letter of support in on my behalf. I still was suffering imposter syndrome at that point; Stéfan’s kindness came at exactly the right time.
Dr. Kim Martin delivered the keynote, ‘Seeing Through Things’:
Those who do digital humanities work have many things in common: we are both novices and experts in different areas of our field, learning from and concurrently educating each other; we engage with multiple communities (DH, our respective ‘home’ disciplines, and the wider public); and we’re endlessly trying to fund and sustain the projects and infrastructure we build. As a result of these things, we’re very, very busy. In this lecture, Kim Martin will invite us to slow down and reflect on how this busyness, this constant push to move forward and innovate, affects the DH community. Through an introspective journey on her time as graduate student, post-doc, and assistant professor, Martin will remind us that keeping an eye on our past is as important as looking ahead and that it is only through remembering those for whom we do our work that we can truly become the kind of community we need.
I haven’t been able to find a recording of the event yet, but keep an eye on the CRIHN twitter account; it might appear there.
I cannot imagine a better person to be the first to speak at a conference in Stéfan’s memory, than Kim Martin.
Next Term
No doubt by now you’ll have seen the guidance from the University about how the first three weeks of the new term will start remotely. This I think is a wise move; the DHCU Discord space remains a place where DH students at least can connect and foster some sense of community. And, the DH graduate students’ society has ambitions to hold some events, so stay tuned!
Practicums
It turns out that practicum placements outside of Canada are feasible. If you’re a student and interested in a practicum with an organization, museum, or other body outside of Canada, get in touch with Dr. Graham and we’ll see what we can figure out.
Coming Attractions
The [Underhill Graduate Students’ Colloquium] is on deck for March 18; see their call for papers:
Join us (virtually) on March 18, 2022 for the Underhill Graduate Student Colloquium, presented by Carleton’s Department of History. Our theme, (Re)thinking History is meant to forefront work going beyond the traditional bounds of academia including the sources being studied, the way we work, how we approach archives, how we share our work, the themes we consider, and the communities involved. Academic history needs to adapt to the times, and we would like this conference to do so as well. To that end, this year’s colloquium will feature graduate work as well as two keynote presentations that discuss history in the public sphere, in the archives, in classrooms, and in academic institutions – all with an understanding that capital ‘H’ history needs to change in order to reflect our communities, our students, and to put into practice long overdue action items from the TRC report
Over in Cultural Mediations, phd student Victoria Hawco (alumn of the DH MA) and Maki Salmon are running a graduate workshop in April on ‘Unlearning Temporalities’; the due date for submissions is February 1st. Looks like a fascinating workshop:
Take care everyone and see you after the break!
Shawn Graham, Coordinator for the MA Specialization in Digital Humanities