Please consider applying for the following panels at the International
Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo sponsored by The Lazarus Project
and The Rossell Hope Robbins Library at the University of Rochester. Please
send all papers to hrdavies5@gmail.com. The deadline for paper abstracts is
September 15.


ColLABoration

Scholars have increasingly found themselves wrestling with the
institutional and structural problems inherent in practicing the digital
humanities within the modern university. Many have found that the
traditional “lone scholar” approach so long embedded within humanities
scholarship does not often translate well to large-scale DH projects, which
may require skills in everything from (for example) multiple coding
languages to paleography to imaging technology. At the Lazarus Project, we
have adopted a laboratory model — in an English department — to approach
the multifarious aspects of DH work that cannot and should not be the
responsibility of any one person. We are looking for papers that deal with
the advantages and disadvantages, problems and solutions, faced by scholars
who have tried to integrate a collaborative or laboratory approach to the
digital humanities within traditional humanities departments. These may be
abstract (theory based), concrete (accounts of specific projects that faced
these issues), or anything in between. Of particular interest might be the
challenges of pitching and publishing interdisciplinary work and the
tendency within traditional humanities fields — and traditional university
bureaucracies — to value single-author publications and solo scholarly
endeavors more highly than those involving co-authors and collaborators. We
furthermore welcome papers that address interpersonal issues such as
mentoring undergraduates in the digital humanities, integrating
first-generation college students, awarding credit to
collaboratively-produced results, and integrating the collaborative
lab-based model into external departmental and interdisciplinary
conversations.


Mind the Gap: Bridging Departments and Disciplines in the Digital
Humanities (Roundtable)

At many universities and institutions, digital humanities projects exist in
pockets around campus, tending as they do to spring up where individual
professors are driving initiatives or leading projects. This roundtable
seeks contributors who have participated in digital humanities projects
that faced the issue of disciplinary divides. Accounts of interdisciplinary
projects are welcome, as are theoretical examinations of the means of
bridging the gap between different conceptual frameworks and practical
treatments of organizing DH endeavors across departmental divides. How have
you helped to foster an inclusive working environment that makes space for
students and scholars of diverse disciplinary backgrounds and interests?
What ideological blindspots hinder collaboration between departments? How
can we change institutional expectations to facilitate collaborations
across departments and disciplines? What unexpected benefits have you seen
as a result of these collaborative initiatives? Medievalists are
particularly equipped to deal with these challenges as we frequently must
frequently work across departments and disciplines. We want to bring this
insight and experience to discussion on the digital humanities.