announcements

BANCROFT LIBRARY – U.S. HISTORY SCENE FELLOWSHIP IN DIGITAL HISTORY

Michael J. Kramer

The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley and U.S. History Scene are pleased to announce competitions for a new fellowship: The Bancroft Library-U.S. History Scene Fellowship in Digital History.

http://www.ushistoryscene.com/uncategorized/digitalhistoryfellowship/

The aim of this fellowship program is to familiarize scholars with emerging digital technologies and digital archival collections, including the digital publication of original scholarly research. The fellowship will introduce history graduate students to specialized skills, methods, and professional networks for conducting digital research using online digital primary source collections at the Bancroft Library, aimed at innovating K-12 history education and curriculum development.

Eligibility for Awards:

The fellowship is designed to support qualified doctoral students in the humanities or social sciences from any recognized institution of higher education in the United States.

Size of Awards:

The fellowship will include a stipend of $1500 to support 6-8 weeks of research and writing to be paid by the Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley directly to the fellow. Residency at the Bancroft Library is not required.

Scope of Eligible Projects:

Fellows will advance digital research practices with primary sources housed at Bancroft Library, identify new sources that should undergo digitization for public access, and receive peer-reviewed digital publishing training through U.S. History Scene for public education. The fellowships will result in digital publication of articles and curriculum plans related to their research topics to be presented on the Bancroft Library and U.S. History Scene websites. This is a virtual fellowship, allowing scholars a flexible schedule through telecommuting to participate (although residency at the Bancroft Library is welcomed). To accommodate this flexibility, primary sources will be digitized and sent to researchers directly from the Bancroft Library for their research use.

Topics that fellows might explore include:

  • Native American life and culture
  • Pacific exploration, maritime history, and empire
  • Mapping and settling the West
  • Missions and cross-cultural exchange
  • The Gold Rush
  • Overland trails
  • Mormons in the U.S. West
  • Mexican-American War, Civil War, & Reconstruction in California
  • Native and African American Slavery in the Early American West
  • Formation of National Parks
  • The U.S. home front during World War I & II
  • Organized Labor & Unionization
  • Environmental History / Natural Disasters
  • Railroads and Transportation History
  • Water, Oil, and Mining
  • Land Grant Acts
  • The Great Depression & Dust Storms
  • The Great Migration
  • Major social movements of the 20th century: Civil Rights, Black Power, Chicano Movements, Feminism & the Women’s Movement, Disability Rights, GLBT Rights
  • The West in the Cold War
  • Chinese Exclusion
  • Japanese Internment
  • Role of military & the federal government
  • Mass Culture in the U.S. West
  • Frontier & Western Mythology

Applying for Awards:

Applicants should submit a C.V. and a research statement indicating the scope and purpose of their proposed research, identifying relevant holdings of The Bancroft Library that will support their research. The digital application form, along with documentary evidence of current enrollment at a college or university, and two letters of recommendation must be sent by June 10, 2014 to editors@ushistoryscene.com. Awards will be announced June 24, 2014.

For all questions please e-mail:

Rhae Lynn Barnes, US History Scene at: rlbarnes@ushistoryscene.com

Mary W. Elings, Bancroft Library at: melings@library.berkeley.edu

FYI: CS+X Colloquium Series

Michael J. Kramer

The McCormick School of Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science invites you to the

 

CS+X Colloquium Series

 

Computer science penetrates all areas of thinking—even the social sciences, humanities, and arts. A new way of thinking—computational thinking—is emerging as a fundamental way of understanding and reimagining the entire world. It envisions all processes as computations and attempts to develop an understanding and technological mastery from this perspective. This colloquium series will help define the challenges and opportunities for both computer science and other disciplines as the scope and nature of computational thinking continue to evolve.

 

 

First in the Series

Wednesday, April 2, 2 p.m., ITW Classroom

 

McAfee Preston McAfee

Director, Google Strategic Technologies

 

Machine Learning + Economics

“Machine Learning in an Exchange Environment”

 

Machine learning involves very large regressions, with as many as a billion explanatory variables. Due to the scale, point estimates are typically used, so that common economic concepts like standard errors are ignored. The talk focuses on applications of ML in an exchange environment, as arises in internet advertising. The use of ML in an auction suggests several ways of improving ML: dealing with the winner’s curse, accommodating the inevitable prediction errors into pricing, and choosing a loss function appropriate to the application. In addition, it is shown that active learning strategies have modest payoffs.

 

Next in the Series

 

Please save the date for the upcoming lecture in this series.

 

Tuesday, April 29, 2 p.m., ITW Classroom

 

Cardelli Luca Cardelli

Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research

 

Programming Languages + Biology

“The Cell Cycle Switch Computes Approximate Majority”

 

This talk focuses on the insights that can be gained by combining the ‘dynamical systems’ and ‘reactive systems’ perspectives on biological systems, specifically focusing on how the cell cycle switch computes the well-known distributed systems algorithm: approximate majority.

FYI: Northwestern Computational Research Day – April 22, 2014

Michael J. Kramer

Northwestern Computational Research Day – April 22, 2014

 

The inaugural Northwestern Computational Research Day is being held on April 22, 2014. This event is hosted by NUIT, and sponsored in conjunction with the McCormick School of Engineering, the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, CIERA (Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics), Northwestern University Library, and the Office for Research. It is an all-day, campus-wide event to showcase computational research at NU, as well as build a computational research community at NU.

 

Highlights of the Computational Research Day include research presentations from Northwestern faculty and faculty researchers, invited speakers, a panel consisting of Quest support, users, and the director of the Office of Research Development, Fruma Yehiely, and a poster session sponsored by CIERA. Please see the full agenda for further details on keynote speakers, and the day’s events.

 

Date: April 22, 2014

Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Location: Norris University Center – Evanston Campus

 

http://www.it.northwestern.edu/research/about/campus-events/research-day/index.html

Digital Humanities Meet Public Humanities: GEO, Spring 2014

Michael J. Kramer

 
*Graduate Students*
**GEO Community Practicum Spring 2014**
Drop-In Info Sessions Scheduled & Applications Available

Are you a graduate student interested in learning how you can connect with
community organizations and gain experience with engaged scholarship?

Are you interested in learning how you can connect with community organizations and gain experience with engaged scholarship? Stop by an information session for the Graduate Engagement Opportunities (GEO) Community Practicum. These drop-in sessions are an informal way to learn more about the program and get your questions answered. Stop in any time during the following windows:

    • Wed. January 29th – anytime between 4 – 5pm – at the Center for Civic Engagement (1813 Hinman)
  • Tues. February 11th – anytime between noon – 1pm – at the Grad Student Commons (2122 Sheridan Rd., Rm#250)

If you cannot make one of these sessions but are interested in more information contactHeidi Gross (heidi-gross@northwestern.edu, 847-467-1821). Additional information and applications are available at www.engage.northwestern.edu/geo. The deadlines to apply for Spring Quarter are Monday, February 17th (regular deadline) and Wednesday, February 26th (final deadline).

The GEO Community Practicum provides interested graduate students with the opportunity to undertake a quarter-long internship or field study in the overlapping areas of civic engagement, social justice, or community studies. Simultaneously, students will enroll inCFS 495: Civic Engagement and Graduate Education. The seminar will allow students to share their experiences at the work site as well as connect the practicum experience to their studies.We work closely with each student to find a placement that is aligned with the student’s interest, and have placed students with organizations that can help further the student’s research agenda and advance their career goals. A few examples of past placements include: the Newberry Library, the Field Museum, the Evanston Health Department,Illinois Humanities Council and the Trust for Public Land.

The program is open to all PhD students, and through the support of The Graduate School students can use one quarter of their NU fellowship funding to participate. (Master’s students will be considered as space allows.) For more information contact Heidi Gross(heidi-gross@northwestern.edu, 847-467-1821).

Additional information and applications are available atwww.engage.northwestern.edu/geo

Learn how you can

     …engage with cultural, civic and non-profit institutions
     …be involved in community development
     …apply your academic skills to communities and civic life

www.engage.northwestern.edu/geo
Center for Civic Engagement and Chicago Field Studies

Northwestern University
1813 Hinman Avenue
Evanston, Il 60208-4175
p. (847) 467-1367
f. (847) 467-2286
engage@northwestern.edu

www.engage.northwestern.edu

Copyright (c) 2014 The Center for Civic Engagement All rights reserved.

 

SAIC/NU Data Viz Collaborative

Michael J. Kramer

SAIC/NU Data Viz Collaborative

August 16–22
Reception: Friday, August 16, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Gallery X, 280 S. Columbus Dr., room 113

Twenty-one students and nine faculty members from Northwestern University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) are combining big data with collaborative research, studio arts, and visual communication design this summer at SAIC’s downtown campus. The results—creative approaches to information visualization developed in an intensive new course, called Data Viz Collaborative—will go on view at SAIC’s Gallery X from August 16 through 22 with related installations in the lobby of the LeRoy Neiman Center from August 16 through September 13.

The free exhibition will showcase the latest developments at SAIC in a long history of connecting artistic and scientific practices via their shared processes of discovery. Divided into three research groups, each set of participants was given six weeks and a $500 budget to develop the experimental projects that will be on display. The areas of concentration are Big Data and School Choice in Chicagoland, Mapping Genealogy and Ancestry, and Eye-tracking: tracing the gaze in an image.

“In today’s increasingly data-driven world, artists and designers have much to contribute to innovation alongside scientists and engineers,” says SAIC President Walter E. Massey. “The complexity and scale of the issues presented by visualizing information in the age of big data require a creativity of approach and mindset in both research and problem-solving. Only by combining the interpretive powers of artists and scientists can we continue to achieve the kinds of breakthroughs necessary to sustain an innovative society and economy.”

http://www.saic.edu/academics/areasofstudy/artandscience/datavizcollaborative/

Digital Humanities Summer Faculty Workshop @ NU

Emily

The Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, assisted by generous support of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, is proud to host the upcoming Digital Humanities Summer Faculty Workshop at Northwestern University, from August 5-16, 2013. The workshop is dedicated to supporting and building scholarly digital humanities research and pedagogy projects that contain meaningful roles for undergraduate students.

We are pleased to announce that this year’s workshop will feature five exciting presentations open to the public:

 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013:
1:30-3:00: Steven Jones (Loyola University Chicago), “The Emergence of Digital Humanities”

 

Thursday, August 8, 2013:
1:30-3:00: Marie Hicks (Illinois Institute of Technology) on digital humanities undergraduate teaching and curriculum change
3:30-5:00: Kathryn Tomasek (Wheaton College), “Encoding Historical Financial Records: Pedagogy and Research in a Digital Edition of a Local Primary Source”

 

Wednesday, August 14, 2013:
1:30-3:30: Amanda French, “Building Scholarly Digital Archives with Omeka”

 

Friday, August 16, 2013:
1:30-3:30: Tanya Clement (University of Texas, Austin), “Project-based Digital Humanities in the Undergraduate Curriculum: A History, a Few Principles, and Some Suggestions”

 

All presentations will take place in the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities Seminar Room, 2-2370 Kresge Hall, 1880 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208. You can learn more about the Digital Humanities Summer Faculty Workshop at http://sites.northwestern.edu/dh/workshop. Please contact Emily VanBuren with any questions: emilyvanburen2012@u.northwestern.edu. We hope to see you there!

CFP: 8th Annual Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science

Michael J. Kramer

The Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science (DHCS) aims to bring together researchers and scholars in the humanities and computer science to examine the current state of digital humanities and to identify and explore new directions and perspectives for future research.

This year, the 8th Annual Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science will take place December 6-8, 2013, on the Lincoln Park Campus of DePaul University. The conference will consist of a plenary address by a significant Digital Humanist, as well as panels, roundtables, or other kinds of sessions proposed by scholars relating to recent issues and advances in the digital humanities.

Interested scholars are invited to present proposals for individual papers, entire panels or roundtable sessions by September 15, 2013. Panels will consist of three papers and a commentator/moderator, although other formats are possible. Panel proposals should include a title and brief description of the session as a whole (300 words or less), along with paper titles and abstracts (300 words or less) of all panelists. Short-form CVs (1-2 pages, including institutional affiliation and contact information) should also be attached. Proposals for individual papers will also be considered and are encouraged.

All proposals should be sent by email to BOTH of the Program Co-Chairs for the conference: Professor Robin Burke (rburke@cs.depaul.edu), and Professor Paul B. Jaskot (pjaskot@depaul.edu). Applicants will be informed regarding inclusion on the conference program by September 30, 2013.

Registration will be free. Participants and other interested scholars may register beginning in Fall 2013. At that point, information on the venue, detailed program, local arrangements for hotels and other pertinent information will also be available at the DHCS website: http://chicagocolloquium.org/.

 

CFP: Digital Death: Mortality and Beyond in the Online Age

Michael J. Kramer

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Digital Death collection
(10/1/13; 12/1/13)

We invite proposals for a collection of essays on the subject of
Digital Death: Mortality and Beyond in the Online Age. This proposed
book, co-edited by Christopher M. Moreman and A. David Lewis, will
consist of 12-15 chapters representing a diversity of perspectives and
approaches to the subject. We are seeking submissions for new writing
from scholars across a spectrum of fields, including religious
studies, theology, media studies, digital humanities, and any other
area that explores the topic of death and dying in a digital
environment, with reference to religion and/or the study of religion.

Digital Death includes analyses of mortality, remembrances, grieving,
posthumous existence, and afterlife experience via a variety of
digital media (e.g. Facebook & social media, World of Warcraft & video
games, YouTube & video services, internet memorials, etc.). We invite
proposals for papers of excellent academic merit on any topic and from
any academic perspective or discipline.

Proposals should include a 200-300 word abstract, a one-page C.V., and
potential titles for the chapter, submitted to cmoreman@gmail.com by
Oct. 1, 2013; complete 5000-7000-word drafts in Chicago format of
accepted abstracts will be due by December 1st, 2013.

—
Christopher Moreman
<cmoreman@gmail.com>

CFP: American Art History and Digital Scholarship: New Avenues of Exploration

Michael J. Kramer

Call for Papers

Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

American Art History and Digital Scholarship: New Avenues of Exploration

November 15-16, 2013, Washington, DC

The Archives of American Art announces an upcoming symposium, American
Art History and Digital Scholarship: New Avenues of Exploration, to be
held at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and
Portraiture, in Washington, DC, on Friday, November 15, followed by a
one-day workshop at the Archives of American Art on Saturday, November
16.  We seek proposals for Friday’s presentations and applications for
participation in Saturday’s moderated workshop.

The purpose of the symposium is to convene scholars, archivists,
librarians, graduate students, technical experts, and the public to
consider American art history in a digital world. The symposium will
examine ways to integrate digital tools and/or resources into the
study of American art and to encourage collaboration.

Conference organizers seek original, innovative scholarship from a
variety of disciplines, institutions, and research centers. The
symposium will assess the potential values and limitations of
technical tools in digital humanities including crowdsourcing,
high-resolution imaging and dynamic image presentation, mapping,
visual recognition software, network analysis, topic modeling, and
data mining. Are there particular digital tools and methods that will
transform research? What new knowledge can be gained? The symposium
will also consider future directions in the fields of art history and
digital humanities so that research centers and archives can prepare
for emerging research trends and questions. Additionally, the
symposium may consider the creative potential of online publishing for
presenting peer-reviewed scholarship in American art.

Day One symposium will feature talks and panels by key thinkers and
innovative practitioners who are currently using digital approaches to
advance the study of American art.  Papers may address the following
topics: research practices and trends, tools and methods, pedagogy,
publishing, and outreach.

Proposals should include a 300-word abstract and a short CV and be
sent via email to AAAsymposium@si.edu Deadline for submissions: August
15, 2013

Day Two workshop will be a moderated discussion on developing
partnerships and projects in the field of American art. The success of
new ventures in digital research depends on collaborations among
archivists, scholars, teachers, students, and IT specialists. What can
we learn from each other? Participants should apply via email at
AAAsymposium@si.edu and submit a brief statement of interest about
potential applications of digital research for American art history.
Please include in your statement particular subject areas, methods,
and/or projects that you would like to develop.  Organizers may screen
applications for Day Two to ensure a wide representation of
specialties, subject areas, and institutions.
Deadline for registration: September 30, 2013

Confirmed speakers will be required to submit a revised abstract by
October 30, 2013. The symposium will be free and open to the public,
webcast, and archived for later viewing. Schedule and materials will
be posted to www.aaa.si.edu/symposium

Funds for travel and accommodations are available for accepted speakers.

This symposium is funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

For more information about the symposium, please contact Kelly Quinn,
Terra Foundation Project Manager for Online Scholarly and
Educational Initiatives quinnk@si.edu.

For more information about the Archives of American Art visit aaa.si.edu.

Mary Savig

Curator of Manuscripts
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Phone: 202.633.7959 | Fax: 202.633.7994
SavigM@si.edu

Digital Dictionaries: Russian Visual & NUDe @ MMLC, Friday 5/17, 4pm

Michael J. Kramer

The MMLC is gearing up for another World.Wine.Web. event!

Stop by next Friday, May 17th, at 4:00pm in Kresge 1-375 for the last high-tech happy hour of the year!

Digital Dictionaries: Russian Visual & NUDe

The digital world opens a host of possibilities for teaching, but also for our students to negotiate meaning and learning. With the Russian Visual Dictionary, Lis Elliott (Slavic Languages) examines how we can make students be aware of misculturation and introduce so-called third places or intercultural comparison in language even at the very beginning levels. The Northwestern University Dictionary-e-version or NUDe is a new project, where Lis will guide students in their own creation of a digital-born dictionary of Northwestern, while thinking critically both about dictionaries and the waning age of information in physical book form. The discussion will be lively and the drinks will be flowing, so join us for another rousing event! Hope to see you there!

Cheers, Your Friends in the MMLC