living out loud: the visionary cross project and the public humanities
DESCRIPTION
This lecture discusses the difference between critical and informational scholarship and the increasing importance of public outreach in historical studies. It then discusses the application of this issue to the Ruthwell Kirk and Cross and the Visionary Cross project's approach to the problem.TRANSCRIPT
Living out loud: The Visionary Cross Project and the Public
HumanitiesHeather Hobma, Daniel Paul O'Donnell,
Marco Callieri, Matteo Dellepiane, James Graham, Catherine Karkov, Roberto Rosselli Del Turco
CMRS/ETRUS. University of Saskatchewan. January 16, 2014
Informational vs. Critical
● Critical: Scholars writing for scholars– Low accessibility
– Little broad context
– Not for popular audiences
● Informational: Interpreters writing for public– High accessibility
– Broad context
– Popular audiences
Digital Humanities
● From early digital editions that mimicked print/critical models (Humanities computing)
● To current generation editions/projects that have heavier public engagement– Crowd-sourcing
– Open annotation
– Linked and open data
Public wants in
● “You” wants to be/is very active– Wikipedia
– Museum attendance is up (online and in person)
● Public's proxies (government and funding agencies) stress mobilisation and dissemination– Increasingly important part of funding applications
Stuff is gorgeous
We are all (going to be) interpreters
● We are the people who both study AND present objects
● Becoming responsible for both critical and educational/informational aspects of our projects
● Run into same issues museum directors etc. have had to face.
Partially ready
● Computation requires us to go back to first principles (in this case UI design)
● DH has a sense of self of itself as being engaged with the world
● We recognise that our material is great and potentially popular
But we need to get more serious
● Easy to see the work as trivial– Not at the research coal face
– Can seem an additional/bureaucratic add on
● And yet popular dissemination/instruction is actually very hard
The Visionary Cross Project
Dumfries Peninsula
Hadrian’s WallRuthwell Cross
Birrens Roman Fort
Hoddom
Bewcastle
Caerlaverock Castle
Dumfries/Burns museum
The Ruthwell, Hoddom, and Bewcastle Connections
Hoddom
But the actual Anglo-Saxon site is on the terraced hill, in the opposite direction.
The sign orients visitors towards the river.
Bewcastle
Bewcastle’s exhibition centre
Exploding Bewcastle’s Interpretive CentreCastle
Cross and church
Interpretive Centre
Roman Bath
(Long Bar)
Roman Fort
(Modern farm)
Castle Roman Baths
Long Bar
Ruthwell
Presenter
Google Earth