We had the most amazing time at the Africana Digital Humanities @ HBCUs convening. Ashanti and Brian, alongside Dr. Myburgh, presented on two projects that they've been working on as part of our lab - The JSU Permanent Art Collection Digital Collection and the JSU Audio Walking Tour! Thank you to the JSU Dean of Liberal Arts, Dr. Rico Chapman, for all of his work organizing this event and to the folks at the Clark Atlanta Africana Digital Humanities Center for making us so welcome.

Join us in welcoming our new faculty advisor, Detrice L. Roberts, to the team! Detrice graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree from Tougaloo College and later received her Master of Arts degree in History from Jackson State University. She has worked for JSU’s College of Liberal Arts since 2019, while also serving on numerous boards and working with local and national non-profit organizations.

Our co-director Dr. Brittany Myburgh is to present at the Annual Zora Neale Hurston Conference, "Zora Rebooted: AI, Language, and Literature" on a panel alongside Professor Danielle Littlefield! Her talk explores the idea of the AI knowledge base and the concept of a cultural codex. She will examine generative AI’s limitations as an interpreter of cultural artifacts, while Professor Littlefield highlights Zora Neale Hurston’s linguistic brilliance as an example of a different kind of AI (Ancestral/Anthropological Intelligence.)

Exploring Digital Frontiers in Research and Creativity

Thu, Sep 26, 10:00 to 11:40am, Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Paper Session

Abstract

Exploring digital frontiers in research and creativity heralds a new era of innovation, collaboration, and discovery. From data-driven insights to virtual realities, digital tools expand the horizons of inquiry, offering dynamic platforms for exploration and experimentation. In research, algorithms sift through vast datasets, unveiling patterns and correlations previously unseen. In creativity, digital canvases invite artists to push boundaries, blending mediums and defying conventions. The digital realm democratizes access to knowledge and resources, empowering diverse voices and perspectives to contribute to the global dialogue. As we navigate these digital frontiers, we chart uncharted territories, forging connections and forging pathways that redefine the boundaries of possibility. This panel offers a compelling exploration of digital innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and creative methodologies in both academic research and artistic practice. Attendees will gain insights into the transformative potential of digital technologies for advancing scholarship and amplifying marginalized voices in research and creativity.

"Navigating the Intersections: African American Art History in the Digital Age" - by Brittany Myburgh, Jackson State University and Mary Soylu, Alabama State University

"The Creative Dissertation: Podcasting as Qualitative Inquiry" - Anne Marie Edwards, Purdue University

Our team will present at DH2024: Reinvention & Responsibility on a panel that focuses on the next generation of digital humanities! Join us August 8, 2024 at 10:30AM to 12:00PM ET to hear about our findings from a kitchen table conversation around our experiences developing this lab across geographies, institutions, and social positions. Our work will include conversations around things like alleviating the "digital divide," the geographic specificity of doing DH work in the South, and what it means to keep ourselves fed.

Keith gave a presentation at the Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association's conference on June 20, 2024 on the process of developing the Black Digital Humanities Lab, arguing for the power of digital humanities within community development work.

Drawing upon Nancy Fraser's framework of justice, he maps out some of the theoretical groundings that underpinned the creation of the lab, highlighting both the complexities with doing this work cross-geographically and at an HBCU, as well as the creative strategies employed to subvert institutional harm.

At the end of the presentation, he asks the following:

Catherine Knight Steele, the keynote at our April symposium, discussed how their work at UMaryland’s Black Communications and Technology Lab (BCaT) drew from the Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast Program - that is, to do this work requires us to be fed, both literally and figuratively.

Within these digital spaces, what does “being fed” look like? What do we need to feel nourished in the digital? While the neoliberal university seeks consumption (of us as workers, students, people, etc.), how can we envision an alternative future of fullness? What does that look, smell, sound, taste, and feel like?

Slides from his presentation can be accessed via this hyperlink. A proceedings article is currently in the works.

HUGE thank you to all the attendees, panelists, moderators, and facilitators who participated in our symposium last Friday 💗 As the organizers, we found ourselves incredibly inspired by the rich insights you all brought to the space and hope that this has provided folk with new connections, new ways of seeing, and new directions forward.

An extra special thank you and congratulations to our lab members Azza Osman and Ashanti Stiff who led our amazing concluding workshop “Quilting Black Futures” that led to the creation of our digital quilt that weaves together all the insights gathered from the symposium. The produced quilt can be accessed on FigJam.

Keep up to date with future updates by following us here and by joining our mailing list via the contact page of our website. We are working to get the symposium recording uploaded and will let folks know when it’s ready!

As the new school year kicks off, we are excited to continue supporting students through the development of this project - and we have some pretty exciting things planned for this coming year!

While we are still working on securing funding to do bigger projects, the success of our undergraduate work-study program and speaker series last year have helped us gather the following key insights:

• Our students already have some amazing ideas for Black Digital Humanities projects! But need some mentorship and support to help them make these ideas a reality
• Project-based work is effective in helping students learn and students gain a lot from being given the space to explore and experiment
• UX methodologies provide a possible entry point to help students get into this work. It provides a more familiar framework for students to learn research methods that can be applied both within and outside the space of the university
• Although our speaker series was originally planned with the primary goal of supporting undergraduate students, it became a rich and generative space where emerging and established scholars working both in and outside the university were able to connect and share their thoughts and projects

We hope to continue supporting student projects in this coming year and anticipate hosting another presenter series in 2024. Interested in getting involved in some capacity? Get in touch with us at hello@blackdigitalhumanities.com!

Exciting news! The Faculty of Information, whose EDI office provided financial support for this speaker series, highlighted the Black Digital Humanities Speaker Series on their website!

Check out the article here!

Congratulations to Capryka Hunt, our amazing Research Assistant, on leading a very successful workshop as part of our Black Digital Humanities research project and speaker series. Participants learnt about ideation activities, speculative design thinking, and how to assess boundaries and barriers for their ideal projects 💡 The insights collected from this workshop will help us shape this platform!