This summer I also wrapped up a two-year fellowship as part of The Summer Institute on Objects, Places, and the Digital Humanities at the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
We focused on the theory and practice of digital work for topics in art, architecture, urban history or material culture and training with tools for geospatial mapping, 3D modeling, photogrammetry, and data collection and visualization.
I'm thrilled to be spending four weeks this summer with 25 other fellows exploring "how the book’s evolving material qualities promote and circulate cultural knowledge" as part of the NEH Summer Institute The Book: Material Pasts & Digital Futures.
During each week, Monday through Thursday, participants will gather in the morning to study readings, engage with visiting faculty, and examine the cultural history and significance of the book in its various forms. Each afternoon, participants will interpret the book-as-technology through the activity of making a range of historical, contemporary, and experimental books and book forms that relate directly to key scholarly readings. Fridays will be dedicated to independent study, open production space, and one-to-one assistance and instruction. And the workshop culminates with the creation of individual artist books that respond to multiple forms of embodiment. These will be on exhibit at the Salt Lake Public Library for two months.
My wrap-up post to the series on "Responding Rapidly to Our Communities" for the National Council on Public History is now live on the History@Work blog. This post is both a summary of our current news and tragedy-heavy environment, the challenges of that landscape, and a call to take action guided by a few simple principles: to be keepers of memory and places of refuge during the storms. The closing lines come from the heart:
"When distilled to its essence, what tragedy demands of us should, in fact, be the most natural to summon: it demands our humanity. Tragedy simply asks that we reach into the depths of our most human of hearts, find the light, and beam it back out."
I've long admired the writing and storytelling in The Bitter Southerner, so I'm thrilled that they are a distribution partner for my short documentary film, For Memories' Sake, made several years ago but never distributed online till now.
I'm honored to be included in their latest issue, alongside an interview about the making of the film and highlighting some wonderful new photographs from Angela Singer, my grandmother extraordinaire.
I'm thrilled to be offering my Podcasting Crash Course workshop at METRO Library Council in NYC over 2 days - June 4th and 5th.
You don't have to be a librarian to enjoy this fun, hands-on workshop (non-member tickets are available!), but I will be ready to answer any library-specific and librarian-ish questions given this great venue.
I was honored to be interviewed by WBUR about the choices Boston has been making with all of the stuff received in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing five years ago.
You can check out the audio story, a video, and article here.
I'm honored that the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has chosen to award me and my collaborator Corey Halaychik, with the 2018 University Libraries Sections (ULS) Outstanding Professional Development Award.
We are being honored for our creation and co-directorship of The Library Collective and our efforts "redefining and revitalizing professional development for librarians" with "accessible, practical learning for library professionals" and our "transparent, democratic approach" to programming. There's an interview with the two of us up on the ULS blog, too, that shares more about our motivation.
We'll accept the award in June at the 2018 American Library Association conference in New Orleans.
One of the collections to be discussed at the event.
On Monday, April 23, I'll be speaking at the Northeastern University Alumni Center for a roundtable discussion on remembrance, commemorating five years of "Our Marathon," the Boston Bombing Digital Archive.
"Storytelling, Archives and Resilience," marking the fifth anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, will commemorate five years of the Our Marathon digital archive and the ways in which collecting, archiving, and sharing memories can facilitate remembrance and healing.
Join us for a roundtable discussion moderated by Dan Cohen, Vice Provost for Information Collaboration, Dean of the Libraries, and co-director of the 9/11 Digital Archive.
Panelists will be:
In April, I'll be part of two panels at the annual National Council on Public History conference in Las Vegas. These sessions will be recorded and made available online to serve as a resource for anyone in the community following the event.
THURSDAY, APRIL 19
8:30 am - 10:00am
Documenting Resilience: Condolence Collection Projects in the Wake of Violence
This session aims to provide insight and guidance to historians,
archivists and librarians who must develop responses to unanticipated
and unthinkable tragedies. Presenters will discuss research and
experiences with the condolence archives created in the wake of
violence at Virginia Tech, the University of California, Santa Barbara,
and in Las Vegas. Through the presentation of these case studies, we
will foster a discussion around essential questions and best practices
for those working with condolence artifacts and collections.
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Exhibiting Sorrow: Memorial Tributes to Victims andCommunity Healing in the Wake of Violence
This session aims to provide insight and guidance to historians,
archivists, and curators who are developing memorial exhibitions
paying tribute to lives lost in massacres and terrorist attacks.
Presenters will discuss research and experiences with curating
exhibitions related to the 9/11 terrorist attack; the Pulse Nightclub
shooting in Orlando, Florida; the rampage in Isla Vista, California;
the AME Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina; and
the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown,
Connecticut.
My two-part introductory crash course to podcasting will be offered again on March 26 and 29th. Sign up now! We made the class sessions 30-minutes longer to allow for more hands-on practice and I'm excited to roll out version 2.0 of my handouts.
I had a lot of fun talking about my creative process, projects, and pursuits with the lovely hosts of Marginally Podcast. Also, they made some pretty rad snippets for their Instagram feed with show excerpts above! Take a listen.
I was asked to contribute the first in a series of articles to continue a conversation begun in the February 2018 issue of The Public Historian with the roundtable “Responding Rapidly to Our Communities.”
Hardly a day goes by when I don't think about the tragedies that have impacted me as an individual and a filmmaker/librarian...I hope the lessons I've learned and shared will be helpful to others in the field and look forward to the discussion on the blog!
I'm teaching a new class at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP. Here's the course description:
In this intensive two-part workshop, (January 30 and February 1) you'll get a head-to-toes overview for how to get started with a podcast of your own. We’ll cover:
The class format will be a combination of information sharing, conversation, hands-on activities, and case studies. Each participant will gain access to a bibliography of recommended books, equipment, resources, and, of course, podcasts for further listening and learning!
Join me for this fun, hands-on class!
I've accepted a new position as Digital Scholarship Librarian for NYU Libraries. I'm thrilled to join the faculty of NYU and take on this new role.
Both Cardamom and I look forward to collaborating with NYU faculty and students interested in digital humanities and digital pedagogy. While I work across disciplines and fields, my specialties are transmedia and media-rich scholarly publishing and I'll soon publish LibGuides with resources for those areas and more!