Digital Frontiers Conference coming to KU in October


LAWRENCE — Hosted by the University of Kansas' Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities (IDRH), the 2018 Digital Frontiers Conference will be Oct. 4-6 in the Burge Union and at the Lawrence Public Library. The theme of this year’s conference is “Finding Community in Digital Humanities.” Through panels, poster presentations and two keynote addresses, participants will explore the many ways in which the digital humanities make the intersection of disciplines, cultures and perspectives possible in new and interesting ways. 

“The digital humanities enable scholars, students and other humanities-lovers to harness the power of digital technology to interpret history, culture, literature and more in new and previously impossible ways,” said IDRH Co-Director Brian Rosenblum. “This conference will showcase digital humanities scholarship at KU and throughout the region to a broader community of digital humanities practitioners while simultaneously enabling local scholars to form networks and create collaborations with the Digital Frontiers community.”

The keynote speakers for the conference are Rasheedah Phillips, a public interest attorney, author, advocate and Afrofuturist living and working out of Philadelphia; and Lauren Klein, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Literature, Media and Communication, and the director of their Digital Humanities Lab. 

Philips’ talk, “Communal, Quantum and Afrofutures: Time & Memory Mapping in Marginalized Communities,” considers the relationship between long-term decision making, public policy and its effect on the futures of marginalized individuals and communities by exploring the outcomes of “Community Futures Lab," a public art project Phillips started in North Philadelphia. 

Lauren Klein’s talk, titled “Data Feminism: Community, Allyship and Action in the Digital Humanities,” wrestles with the connections among scholarship, technology and activism by looking at one digital humanities project in particular: Data Feminism, a way of thinking about data, both in DH projects and in everyday life, that is informed by the past several decades of feminist activism and critical thought. 

“We could not be more excited about these keynote speakers and the slate of sessions at this year’s conference,” said IDRH post-doctoral scholar Dhanashree Thorat. “These talks, panels and workshops will give participants the know-how and the inspiration they need to get started on their own digital projects.”

Registration is $50 for students and $90 for faculty and professionals. KU and Haskell participants are eligible for a 50 percent registration subsidy offered by IDRH. All events on Oct. 6 at the Lawrence Public Library are free and open to the public. 

To register or to view the full schedule of events, please visit idrh.ku.edu/digital-frontiers-2018. If you have questions, please contact idrh@ku.edu

 

Wed, 08/01/2018

author

Leah Hallstrom

Media Contacts

Leah Hallstrom

KU Libraries