Thursday, September 18, 2008

UC Irvine Holds Cool High-Tech Talks

HumaniTech is a program at UCI, which hosts illuminating exhibits, workshops, and panel discussions among faculty and graduate students about the interdisciplinary incorporation and implementation of technology -- with the humanities -- in teaching and research.

The HumaniTech website notes that: "The collaborative efforts of Humanities scholars and computer programmers has led to cutting-edge resources such as digital archives, interactive mapping systems, new technologies in language instruction, cultural studies -- with the potential to redefine the future of Humanities research." Moreover, HumaniTech says:

“We see that not only do technology and the humanities mix, but, in the present digital culture, one may not be able to survive without the other.”

Unless mistaken, I think the HumaniTech lecture series is open to the public -- for free. Videos of past events are often posted to their website as well. The two upcoming conferences below sound especially relevant to our class:

"Public Spheres, Blogospheres" (Oct. 24, 2008)
The website notes that this "conference will feature conversations among important contemporary bloggers in the U.S. political and academic scene, focusing on the evolution of democracy and democratic participation in a digital age."

"The Future of Writing" (Nov. 6-7, 2008)
The website notes that this conference will "explore how the new communications technologies, particularly the Internet, are challenging previous conceptions of what 'writing' is." Questions to be discussed: "How are new communications technologies changing the way people 'compose,' 'write,' and 'author'? How do collaborative writing spaces and social networking challenge the concepts of 'text' and 'author'? And how are emerging emphases on visual literacies shifting what we think of as writing?"

http://www.humanities.uci.edu/humanitech/index.php

- Misako M.

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