2015 has been a busy year for the Digital Humanities at Berkeley program. We are thankful for our many campus partners who support the growing digital humanities community of practice. Before the new semester begins, let’s take a look back at highlights from 2015.
In February, the community gathered at the Magnes Collection for Jewish Art and Life to celebrate the launch of the Digital Humanities at Berkeley program as well as the opening of a new exhibit, "The Future of Memory: Jewish Culture in the Digital Age.”
With the support of the Andrew W. Mellon foundation, a variety of collaborative research projects and new courses and course components received funding starting in February 2015, with a second round funded in July. The first cohort of DH-supported courses debuted in Fall 2015, and more are planned for Spring 2016 and beyond.
In April, the Berkeley digital humanities community gathered at the third annual Digital Humanities Faire. Faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates shared their works-in-progress at a poster session.
In June, twenty-one scholars and staff traveled to British Columbia to attend the Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) at the University of Victoria. Attendees took classes on topics such as critical approaches, web development, databases, programming, and network analysis. Berkeley affiliates presented papers, posters, and even led instruction.
DH summer interns MacKenzie Alessi, Isabella Warren, and Ashley Jerbic spent the summer working with faculty and exploring tools in data visualization and 3D modeling.
In August, Digital Humanities at Berkeley hosted its inaugural Summer Institute (DHBSI). 52 faculty members, students, and staff received a week of intensive instruction in DH methods. 14 summer fellowships were awarded to individual researchers and research teams. In panels and presentation throughout the week, faculty members and visiting speakers reflected on topics such as critical perspectives in DH and pedagogy.
In the fall, Stephanie Moore and Teddy Roland joined the DH at Berkeley team as consultants in Drupal and computational text analysis, respectively. Two new DH working groups formed around literature and digital humanities and creating electronic literature.
Explore more stories and features from 2015 on the DH at Berkeley blog.
Looking Ahead
2016 promises to be another year full of DH activities. In the fall, two postdoctoral fellows will join the Digital Humanities at Berkeley program to conduct research and teach new courses. Another cohort of grants for collaborative research and new courses will be awarded in May. Stay tuned for a request for proposals early in the semester. The second Digital Humanities at Berkeley Summer Institute will be held in August; attendance is free for accepted UC Berkeley affiliates and fellowships will be awarded.
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