Year 2 Introductory Meeting
Monday, October 8, 2012, 3:00 pm (South Hall 2509)
Following on our first year of work and progress on projects during the summer, in this meeting we will meet and introduce ourselves to new participants, update everyone on the status of projects, and look forward to activities during the rest of 2012-13.
For our next meeting (in November):
After our first year of conceptual and early project-oriented work, we now need to identify the core values of the humanities we want our projects to communicate, the best “frames” to use in communicating those values, and the nature of our audience. Our next meeting will focus on “values” and the definition of the humanities they imply. To prepare for this meeting, look over the following existing 4Humanities projects and posts, as well as an example of a digital humanities project from another organization, Duke’s Haiti Lab:
- Humanities Showcase: http://humanitiesshowcase.wix.com/4humanities-showcase#!HOME/mainPage
- Humanities, Plain & Simple post by Christine Hensler: https://4humanities.org/2012/09/christine-henseler-looking-for-a-job-cash-in-on-the-humanities/
- Humanities, Plain & Simple post by Alan Liu: https://4humanities.org/2012/07/alan-liu-the-humanities-and-tomorrows-discoveries/
- Humanities, Plain & Simple post by Valerie Barr: https://4humanities.org/2012/01/stem-and-humanities-it-isnt-either-or/
- Duke’s Haiti Lab:
- Humanities Laboratories at Duke: http://www.fhi.duke.edu/labs
- 19th- Century Caribbean Cholera TimeMap: http://www.duke.edu/web/haitilab/cholera4/cholera_timemap11.html#zoom=5¢er=20.13847031245115,-74.3994140625&date=1832-06-05
As you read and explore each site/post, answer the following questions:
- What values of the humanities do you see these statements, projects, or sites communicating? (And what is missing?)
- What key words, images, or ideas in these materials evoke those values and imply a definition of the humanities?
- How do you see “the humanities” defined in these materials?
As you think about the values of the humanities, you may also wish to review the bullet list defining “Basic Research in the Humanities” that was synthesized from a survey of UCSB humanities faculty by Alan Liu during the work of the UC Commission on the future. (See https://4humanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Basic-Research-in-the-Humanities.pdf)
At our succeeding meeting, we will articulate the “frames” that we can best use to present the humanities in our projects. We will also use these frames to produce a working draft of our own definition of the humanities and the values we want to mobilize in humanities advocacy.