Digital Lagniappe Conference

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The School of Humanities at USM will hold its first annual digital humanities conference, Digital Lagniappe, on Friday, April 16, 2021. This virtual conference will take place over Zoom and all of those interested in digital humanities are invited to attend.  

Digital Lagniappe will include five interactive roundtables based on current hot topics in the digital humanities field. Panelists will give a brief (3 min) overview of their work followed by a discussion as a panel led by the moderator and questions from the audience. There are no formal presentations in these conversational forums.

REGISTRATION

• Registration for Digital Lagniappe is now closed.
• Conference fee: $10 for students and $15 for scholars and the greater community. (Due to the very low cost, there are no refunds.)
• To receive the one Zoom link used for all session, please register!

 

Digital Lagniappe: Conference in Digital Humanities

Friday, April 16 | 9:00 a.m - 4:00 p.m. Central
(all times Central)

 

SCHEDULE

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. — Welcome from the hosts

• Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D., Professor of History and Director of DH programming at the University of Southern Mississippi
• Stephanie Seal Walters, Ph.D., Digital Liaison in the Humanities, School of Humanities, University of Southern Mississippi
• Maeve Losen, MA student, History & Anthropology, DH Graduate Assistant, School of Humanities, University of Southern Mississippi

 

9:00 a.m. - 9:50 a.m. — Digital Humanities and Mapping

Panel Description: How does mapping help us visualize data? This panel will focus on mapping methods in several different fields: geography, computer science, history, and library science. Each panelist will discuss how mapping enhances work in their own field/in one of their digital projects. Then they will discuss how collaboration between their respective fields might strengthen Digital Humanities projects and scholarship, and the challenges this may involve.

Moderator: Stephanie Seal Walters, Ph.D., Digital Liaison in the Humanities, School of Humanities, University of Southern Mississippi

Panelists:

• Beddhu Murali, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Southern Mississippi 
• Abigail Norris, Digital Initiatives Librarian & Assistant Professor, University Libraries, The University of Mississippi, “Mapping Memphis”
• Damian Shiels, Ph.D., Historian/Archeologist; Dir., The Irish in the American Civil War
• Joslyn Zale, Ph.D., Adjunct Instructor of Geography and Research Associate at the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4), University of Southern Mississippi
  
  

Break

10:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. — The Black Digital Humanities 

Panel Description: This panel focuses on university-based projects that use digital humanities methodologies to advance work in African American/Black studies fields. Panelists will explore the growing significance of Black Digital Humanities over the last decade, and how DH tools proved critical to their projects and for engaging academic and public audiences.

Moderator: Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D., Professor of History, The University of Southern Mississippi, Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project

Panelists:

• Torren Gatson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History, UNC Greensboro, “Black Craftspeople Digital Archive”
• Judith Giesberg, Ph.D., Robert M. Birmingham Chair in the Humanities, Professor of History, Villanova University, “Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery”
• Tiffany Momon, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Sewanee, The University of the South, “Black Craftspeople Digital Archive”
• Anne Sarah Rubin, Ph.D.  Professor of History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, “Slave Streets, Free Streets: Visualizing the Landscape of Early Baltimore”

Break

11:00 a.m.- 11:50 a.m. — Digital Humanities, the Archive, and Transcription

Panel Description: Over the last decade, digital humanities methods have transformed how researchers and the public access historical documents and materials—especially in the wake of Covid-19. This panel will focus on how transcription tools and methods are helping archives, libraries, and DH projects make their materials more accessible to scholars, educators, students, and the public.

Moderator: Leah Parker, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of English, University of Southern Mississippi

Panelists:

• Jennifer Brannock, Professor, University Libraries, University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi Community Cookbook Project/Culinary Collection at Southern Miss
• Ben Brumfield, developer, FromThePage transcription software
• Sara Brumfield, developer, FromThePage transcription software
• Cathy Moran Hajo, Ph.D., Editor and Director, Jane Addams Papers Project, Ramapo College, Jane Addams Digital Edition
• Andrew Haley, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History, University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi Community Cookbook Project/Culinary Collection at Southern Miss
• Laura Morreale, Ph.D., Independent Scholar/Medieval Historian, The Diephira Project, The International La Sfera Challenge, and the Image du Monde

 

Break

 

12:00 p.m. - 12:50 p.m. — DataScribe Presentation

Description: Lincoln Mullen and Greta Swain of George Mason University’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media will present their latest research tool, DataScribe. (The DataScribe project is led by Jessica Otis.) This structured data transcription module, which works in Omeka S, helps scholars transcribe historical sources into structured data. They will discuss the need for such transcription in historical research and show how they are using it to transcribe the 1926 Census of Religious Bodies. Please grab your lunch and join us for the talk.

Presenters: Lincoln Mullen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of History, George Mason University and Greta Swain, Ph.D. Candidate, George Mason University

 

Break

 

1:00 p.m.- 1:50 p.m. — Gaming in the Humanities

Panel Description: Over the last decade, digital gaming has become one of the most popular methods of exploration in multiple humanities fields, including history, cultural studies, and literary analysis. This panel will focus on the uses of gaming in secondary and university classrooms, as well as for engaging public interest in the Humanities.

 

Panelists:

• John Heckman, Independent Scholar, The Tattooed Historian 
• Craig Carey, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English, The University of Southern Mississippi
• Dan Childers, Instructor of English, Pearl River Community College
• Anastasia Salter, D.C.D., M.F.A., Associate Professor of English, University of Central Florida

 

Break

 

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m. — Managing Large-Scale Digital Archive Projects

Panel Description: In this panel, contributors from collaborative projects Memorial 21 and The Gravestone Project will discuss the process of creating a digital archive. From gathering a group of like-minded individuals to applying for grants, these panelists will give an in-depth look at how to launch a digital archive project that involves sites around the world and transatlantic partnerships. 

Moderator: Emily Stanback, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English, University of Southern Mississippi

Panelists:

• Stephanie Seal Walters, Ph.D., Digital Liaison in the Humanities, University of Southern Mississippi
• Polly Atkin, Ph.D., Independent Scholar
• Rebecca Bullard, Ph.D. Associate Professor, University of Reading
• Amy Larner Giroux, Ph.D., Associate Director, Center for Humanities & Digital Research, University of Central Florida
• Rebecca L. Schneider, Ph. D., Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Colorado

 

Break

 

3:00 p.m. - 3: 50 p.m. — Graduate Led DH Projects

Panel Description: This panel will spotlight Digital Humanities projects created by graduate students at the University of Southern Mississippi and reveal how in-class or individual projects are advancing students' research and employment goals. 

Moderator: Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D., Professor of History, University of Southern Mississippi

Panelists:

• Adam Dunnells, English Ph.D. Candidate, Born Online Horror Fiction Journal
• Grant Jones, History MA student, Key to the South: A Vicksburg Driving Tour
• Billy Loper, History MA student, Key to the South: A Vicksburg Driving Tour
• Maeve Losen, History & Anthropology MA student, School of Humanities DH Graduate Assistant, Digital Snapshots: The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission
• Amy Myers, MA History (graduated), Key to the South, A Vicksburg Driving Tour
• Cody Turnbaugh, History MA student, Key to the South, A Vicksburg Driving Tour

 

3:50 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. — Closing Remarks