20.539 events

               Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 20, No. 539.
       Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
  www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/humanities/cch/research/publications/humanist.html
                        www.princeton.edu/humanist/
                     Submit to: humanist_at_princeton.edu

   [1] From: dottalin_at_umd.edu (64)
         Subject: National Coalition of Digital Humanities Centers (US)

   [2] From: Kevin Kee <kevin.kee_at_brocku.ca> (35)
         Subject: INTERACTING WITH IMMERSIVE WORLDS CONFERENCE

--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:44:22 +0100
         From: dottalin_at_umd.edu
         Subject: National Coalition of Digital Humanities Centers (US)

For Immediate Release
March 27, 2007
Online: http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/culture/release.cfm?ArticleID=1410

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
and the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) at
the University of Maryland are pleased to announce a summit meeting
to plan a national coalition of digital humanities centers. The
meeting will take place at NEH headquarters in Washington, D.C., on
April 12-13, 2007. The meeting is part of NEH's Digital Humanities
Initiative, which supports projects that use or study the impact of
digital technology on the humanities. Digital technology offers
humanists new ways to conduct research, conceptualize relationships,
and present scholarship to a wider audience.

At digital humanities centers around the country, historians,
archaeologists, and other humanities scholars have been working with
computer scientists and engineers to develop innovative ways of
applying emerging digital technologies to the humanities. These
collaborations have created new methods of conducting research,
interpreting archival data, and teaching the humanities.

In order to take the digital humanities, and humanities scholarship,
to the next level, national collaboration needs to be encouraged
between digital humanities centers and funding organizations.

"Digital humanities centers serve as the technological backbone for
the future of humanities scholarship," said Dr. Bruce Cole, Chairman
of the National Endowment for the Humanities. "Encouraging
collaboration among the centers will serve to speed innovation and
replicate success throughout the nation."

Collaborative work done by the nation's network of science labs has
produced major breakthroughs, such as the human genome project and
the creation of the Internet. As with the science labs, this new
network of digital humanities centers will promote the national
exchange of ideas and research necessary to generate revolutionary
innovations in the humanities.

The centerpiece of the conference is a day-long discussion of key
issues involved in fostering collaboration, developing funding
resources, and creating blueprints for future projects. The
discussion will be chaired by Neil Fraistat, Director of the Maryland
Institute for Technology in the Humanities.

"We hope that by the end of the meeting, a framework will be in place
for a national coalition of digital humanities centers that can start
functioning immediately," says Fraistat.

Along with the directors of major digital humanities centers,
representatives from government, industry, and the private sector
will be in attendance, including those from the Mellon Foundation,
Google, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Science
Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, the J. Paul Getty
Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, Internet2, and Library of Congress.

The conference begins at 4:00 p.m. on April 12, with a welcome
address by NEH Chairman Bruce Cole. John Unsworth will then deliver
a plenary address on "Digital Humanities Centers as
Cyberinfrastructure." Unsworth is the director of the Graduate
School of Library and Information Science at the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Vint Cerf, the Chief Internet Evangelist
for Google, will also provide some remarks. A reception follows
hosted by the University of Maryland's Dean of Arts and Humanities
James Harris, and Dean of the Libraries Charles Lowry.
On April 13, the conference attendees will spend the day discussing
how to create a framework for a permanent coalition of digital
humanities centers.

Media Contacts:
MITH: Neil Fraistat, (301)405-8596
NEH: Elissa Pruett, (202) 606-8446

--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:45:12 +0100
         From: Kevin Kee <kevin.kee_at_brocku.ca>
         Subject: INTERACTING WITH IMMERSIVE WORLDS CONFERENCE

REGISTRATION OPEN - INTERACTING WITH IMMERSIVE WORLDS CONFERENCE

Interacting with Immersive Worlds
An International Conference presented by the
Interactive Arts and Science Program,
Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario
JUNE 4-5, 2007

Register to attend at: www.brocku.ca/iasc/immersiveworlds

Focusing on the growing cultural significance of interactive
media, IWIW features over 50 academic papers organized along four streams:
-- Theory of Immersive Worlds explores: i. the theory of interactivity, from
perspectives such as narrative and gameplay=20
(ludology); ii. analyses of the cultural
and psychological effects of immersive worlds.
-- Creative Practices in Immersion examines interactive new media art, and its
exploration of new idioms and challenges in immersive worlds.
-- Immersive Worlds in Education examines the application of immersive
technologies to teaching and learning.
-- Immersive Worlds in Entertainment examines entertainment applications of
immersive technologies.

The IWIW conference also features 4 keynote speakers:
-- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Director of the Quality of Life Research Center=
  at
the Drucker School, Claremont Graduate University
-- James Paul Gee, Tashia Morgridge Professor of Reading, University of
Wisconsin at Madison (sponsored by Owl Children's Trust and the Brock Research
Institute for Youth Studies)
-- Chris Csikszentmihalyi, Director of the Computing Culture group at the=
  MIT
Media Lab
-- Denis Dyack, Director/President, Silicon Knights

Visit the conference Web site at www.brocku.ca/iasc/immersiveworlds

[...]
Received on Wed Mar 28 2007 - 03:02:13 EST