Conceptualizing and Developing DH Projects in Uncertain Times

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

Research and teaching are continuously affected by external factors. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and rapid advancements in educational technology provide a unique moment for considering the role of DH projects for teaching and researching. How can DH projects and resources assist scholars at a time when scholars may not be able to travel to the region for research? How have recent events both inside and outside the academy changed how DH scholars conceptualize their projects? How do DH projects evolve in these circumstances? Susan Grunewald will focus on the work of Peripheral Histories? Emily Joan Elliott will discuss a new project to create an interactive map of archives outside of Russian and Ukraine. Anna Kijas will discuss how the rapid-response initiative, Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online has evolved since 2022, emphasizing the transformative aspect of DH in its ability to empower local communities in safeguarding cultural heritage. Seth Bernstein will address the possibilities for the use of neural networks to analyze historical images and archival documents. Liudmila Lyagushkina will focus on OpenList.wiki and other Russian resources about the victims of political terror in the USSR and how these sources can be utilized in research. These presentations are better suited as a roundtable so we can engage with questions beyond our personal research and scholarship, including the mechanics of project management, development, and collaboration. We desire to encourage an interactive and responsive dialog with the audience, which is better achieved through the roundtable formats.

Sub Unit

• Digital Humanities

Chair

• John Randolph, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Roundtable Members

• Seth Bernstein, U of Florida

• Emily Joan Elliott, Michigan State U / H-Net

• Susan Grunewald, Louisiana State U

• Liudmila Lyagushkina, U of Nottingham (UK)