Jan 05, 2017 Annual Digital Humanities Symposium Comes to the University of Utah

Digital Humanities has a history that dates back to the 1940’s and yet, as a term, still isn’t well understood today. Is “Digital Humanities” a discipline? A set of computational methods? Does it refer to new digital tools for capturing and delivering humanities content? Scholars from around the Mountain West will continue this ongoing conversation about Digital Humanities theories, research, tools, and programs next month at the second annual Utah Symposium on the Digital Humanities (DHU2) at the University of Utah Marriott Library.

DHU2 has expanded significantly since the inaugural symposium held last year at Utah Valley University. The 2017 symposium will be a two-day event featuring keynote speaker Alan Liu and panel presentations from scholars around the Mountain West. Alan Liu is a Distinguished Professor in the English Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara and thought leader in the digital humanities community. His work focuses on cultural criticism and the relationship between media and history. The symposium will also feature a presentation and consultation sessions with Perry Collins, Program Officer from NEH’s Office of Digital Humanities.

The growth of the Digital Humanities Symposium reflects the rising interest in digital humanities at the University of Utah and growing community of scholars using computational methods to further their humanistic research. Strategic hiring has recently brought two notable digital humanists to the University of Utah English Department, David Roh and Lisa Swanstrom. In October, four colleges on campus contributed to the launch of the Digital Matters Lab in the Marriott Library, a space that will foster a DH community and further computationally enhanced humanities research and learning.

DHU2 will be held at the J. Willard Marriott Library on February 10-11, 2017. Thanks to generous donations from the Marriott Library, Tanner Humanities Center, U of U English department, and BYU’s Humanities Center, registration is offered at a reduced rate. The cost for faculty is $50.00 and the cost for students is $25.00.

To learn more about DHU2 or to register for the symposium go to http://digital.humanities.utah.edu/dhu2. Questions? Contact DHU2 co-chairs Rebekah Cummings at Rebekah.cummings@utah.edu and David Roh at david.roh@utah.edu.

Alan Liu, Distinguished Professor, Department of English, UC Santa Barbara

This blog was written by Rebekah Cummings