Want to discuss a new or upcoming project, demonstrate a tool, pose a meaty question, or call for collaborators? Give an informal, two-to-three minute presentation during our Dork Short session, which will take place over lunch. This lively lightning talks session is a great way to get the word out about a project or idea and to find people who can work with you or provide input. To sign up to give a dork short, just make a comment on this post, giving a title or brief description of your Dork Short. Note that we want to keep the session moving along, so plan to show a single slide (pre-loaded onto the presentation computer) or web page (if anything at all). You can always make a spur-of-the-moment decision on Saturday to do a Dork Short.

Digital Humanities certificates, programs, and centers are popping up all over the academic world, as many scholars across fields and disciplines realize its potential. But in such a wide and varied field with endless possibilities, how do you even begin teaching digital humanities? What do students need to know initially to get going?

I propose a session that workshops an “Intro to Digital Humanities” course for either/both undergraduates and graduate students. I envision both a Talk and Make session, in that we would pool collective knowledge to build a foundational list of “must-reads,” “must-know” topics, or “must-do” activities/skills to cover. For those who have already taught such courses, what worked well and what fizzled? The goal for this session would be to create a helpful first course that could lead to a wider DH curriculum.

Linked data and linked open data are batted about as buzzwords in digital humanities and digital library communities. Compared to the siloed and complex data of individual institutional repositories and databases, this model offers something different, radically (maybe, too radically?) simple, and inherently reusable across platforms.

I’d like to propose a session that briefly introduces and discusses the basic principles of LD and LOD (i.e. URIs, relationship vocabularies, existing LOD datasets) and examines some LOD project examples (e.g. Linked Jazz, Syriaca).

Ultimately, this talk session would be a discussion of the possible opportunities and drawbacks of using this “schema-neutral” data format, as well as a space to brainstorm: how would/could a scholar develop an LOD project? where would you find/reconcile/store your data? what kind of visualization or API would you build, assuming you had the resources at your disposal?

THATCamp Digital Frontiers will take place at Rice University’s Fondren Library on Saturday, September 24, 2016, immediately after the Digital Frontiers conference. It is co-sponsored by the the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (through the Resilient Networks to Support Inclusive Digital Humanities Project grant), Digital Frontiers, Fondren Library and the Texas Digital Humanities Consortium.

We welcome all with an interest in digital humanities (broadly conceived) to join us for what promises to be a exhilarating day of conversation, hands-on exploration, and community building.

Registration

Thanks to generous sponsorship from the Mellon Foundation, registration is free. In order to provide the best THATCamp experience, we will limit registration to the first 50 registrants (first come, first served). Registration will close on September 19, 2016. If you didn’t make the registration deadline, you’re still welcome to register and attend, but you’ll need to provide your own breakfast and lunch.