Digital Humanities

Cosmopolitanism vs Terrorism? Discourses of Ethical Possibility Before and After 7/7

by james brassett

The article provides a critical analysis of the relationship between cosmopolitanism and terrorism, via the question... more The article provides a critical analysis of the relationship between cosmopolitanism and terrorism, via the question of response. Using 9/11 and 7/7 as key moments in the evolution of this relationship, the article asks: how does cosmopolitanism respond to terrorism? What limits does this response contain? How might we go beyond such limits? It is argued that cosmopolitan responses to terrorism provide an important, but limited (and sometimes limiting), alternative to mainstream discourses on terror. After 9/11 the possibility for cosmopolitan thinking ‘beyond’ the mainstream view was articulated by a range of authors, including Archibugi, Habermas, Held and Linklater. A brief survey suggests that defending international law, constructing international institutions and alleviating global poverty were seen as good responses, in the context of divisive mainstream politics. However, by engaging a case study of the Make Poverty History campaign, the article argues that when cosmopolitan ideas were cemented in practice, the distinctiveness of a cosmopolitan response faded. This point was brought into sharp relief by a number of moralising responses to 7/7. Straightforward dichotomies between ‘barbaric terrorists’ and ‘civilised cosmopolitans’ served to construct cosmopolitanism as a coherent, and united, global community. Available tactics, for this ‘community’, were reduced to more-of-the same – more aid, more global democracy – and assertions of a moral equivalence between Bush and ‘Terror’, such that ‘you are either with cosmopolitans, or, you are with the War on Terror’. In light of
these ethical closures, and drawing from the arguments of Jacques Derrida and Judith Butler, the article identifies some cursory ways in which cosmopolitans might think beyond such limits, to articulate an imaginative and engaged approach to global ethics.

Performing the Sub-Prime Crisis: Trauma and the Financial Event

by james brassett

The article provides a critical analysis of the performative effects of invocations of trauma and traumatic imagery... more The article provides a critical analysis of the performative effects of invocations of trauma and traumatic imagery during the sub-prime crisis. We develop a pragmatic approach to performativity that foregrounds the ambiguity between the importance of performative utterances, on the one hand, and overlapping performativities that produce subjects capable of ‘‘hearing’’ such utterances, on the other. We argue that a performative effect of the traumatic narrative of the sub-prime crisis was to constitute it as ‘‘an event’’ with traumatic characteristics. Financial subjects came to anticipate the object of financial salvation through intervention to save the banks; and such a view worked to curtail the range of political possibilities that were thinkable. Lines of pragmatic resistance are suggested, which turn the logic of trauma toward broadly progressive ends. In this way, the political dimension of performativity is brought forward: if finance is performative, then this only invites the question of how we might perform it differently.

Contingent borders, ambiguous ethics: Migrants in (international) political theory

by james brassett

The article engages a critical analysis of liberal theory in the context of transnational migration. Normative... more The article engages a critical analysis of liberal theory in the context of transnational migration. Normative arguments provided by liberal-cosmopolitan and liberal-communitarian authors are contrasted. While sympathetic to such approaches, we argue that traditional liberal theory has attempted to downplay the contingency and resultant ambiguity of many of its moral precepts. Historically contingent borders underpin neat universal categories like ‘‘citizen’’ and ‘‘refugee,’’ which fail to reflect the diverse and contested experiences of migration. But such ambiguities need not undermine liberal approaches. Indeed, a proper engagement with the problematic and uncertain realities of migration can provide a spur to a more thoroughgoing ethical praxis. We draw on the philosophical pragmatism of Richard Rorty to outline an approach to migration that remains open to the contingent construction of terms like ‘‘migrant,’’ ‘‘refugee,’’ and ‘‘asylum-seeker.’’ By extending Rorty’s concept of sentimental education, we provide an imaginative and politically
challenging set of agendas for the ethics of migration.

British irony, global justice: a pragmatic reading of Chris Brown, Banksy and Ricky Gervais

by james brassett

The article provides a critical analysis of the concept of irony and how it relates to global justice. Taking Richard... more The article provides a critical analysis of the concept of irony and how it relates to global justice. Taking Richard Rorty as a lead, it is suggested that irony can foreground a sense of doubt over our own most heartfelt beliefs regarding justice. This provides at least one ideal sense in which irony can impact the discussion of global ethics by pitching less as a discourse of grand universals and more as a set of hopeful narratives about how to reduce suffering. The article then extends this notion via the particular – and particularly – ethnocentric case of British Irony. Accepting certain difficulties with any definition of British Irony the article reads the interventions of three protagonists on the subject of global justice – Chris Brown, Banksy and Ricky Gervais. It is argued that their considerations bring to light important nuances in irony relating to the importance of playfulness, tragedy, pain, self-criticism and paradox. The position is then qualified against the (opposing) critiques that irony is either too radical, or, too
conservative a quality to make a meaningful impact on the discussion of global justice. Ultimately, irony is defended as a critical and imaginative form, which can (but does not necessarily) foster a greater awareness of the possibilities and limits for thinking/doing global justice.

New Models for Collaborative Textual Scholarship

by Anna Jordanous

Co-authored with Mark Hedges (lead author), Stuart Dunn, Charlotte Roueche, Marc W. Küster, Thomas Selig, Michael Bittorf, Waldemar Artes.

Accepted for 6th IEEE Int. Conf. on Digital Ecosystems and Technologies for Complex Systems, Environment, and Service Engineering IEEE-DEST 2012.

Final version will be uploaded after editing is finished.

Researchers in digital humanities have for many years been producing online editions of texts based on TEI XML, a... more Researchers in digital humanities have for many years been producing online editions of texts based on TEI XML, a widely-adopted standard for marking up textual resources with semantic content. However, this has led to a certain isolation of information, the so-called ‘digital silo', and such modes of digital publication have not always made best use of the possibilities of digital technologies. The model is also challenged by the need to model texts that are by their very nature interconnected. The paper describes a collaborative environment of tools and techniques for working with texts that allows scholars to work with such highly- interconnected material.

“Innovazione” nelle scienze storiche e sociali: come, quando, a quali condizioni

by Michele Dantini

in: il manifesto, 14.1.2012, pp. 10-11.

Da circa quattro decenni l’analisi testuale (e iconografica) ha congiunto al proprio interno metodo filologico e... more Da circa quattro decenni l’analisi testuale (e iconografica) ha congiunto al proprio interno metodo filologico e prospettive critico-ideologiche maturate all’interno di discipline storicamente distinte dalla storia letteraria (o artistica), quali l’etnografia, la sociologia, gli studi geopolitici, gli studi di genere, l’ecologia politica e sociale.

Gli studi sull’immigrazione, la teoria postcoloniale o dell’incontro culturale, i dibattiti sulle politiche della memoria o l’industria culturale hanno prodotto formidabili ampliamenti interpretativi e discorsivi, destato nuove sensibilità, sospinto l’uso dei documenti in direzioni civili e democratiche. Si sono prodotte discontinuità tecniche e storiografiche che dobbiamo riconoscere come “innovazione” e che possiedono rilevanti implicazioni sociali.

Designing the Digital Archaeological Record: Collecting, Preserving, and Sharing Archaeological Information

by Russell Alleen-Willems

Master's Thesis at Northern Arizona University, 2012.

Archaeological digital data, like archaeological artifacts, are non-renewable resources that, once lost, are gone... more Archaeological digital data, like archaeological artifacts, are non-renewable resources that, once lost, are gone forever. Because digital data are so new in comparison to paper records, archaeologists lose data frighteningly often. First, this thesis
summarizes my experience interning with Digital Antiquity, an organization specializing in preserving digital data. Second, this thesis details considerations in preparing, storing, and disseminating digital archaeological information. Finally, this thesis describes potential cultural, professional and educational concerns for users of digital archaeological repositories. As archaeologists create greater amounts of digital data, the
digital curation crisis will grow. While a perfect solution has not yet been implemented, pioneering archaeologists have identified steps every archaeologist can follow to ensure that the fruits of their intellectual labors are not lost, while at the same time taking
advantage of the unique properties of digital data to improve data and information sharing and use in archaeology.

Digital data are useful in ways that data on paper are not and cannot be. Digital data allow archaeologists to collaborate on large projects, communicate more effectively, and even reconstruct entire excavations. However, digital data are also far less stable than paper records. While a paper record may last well over a thousand years if kept in the right conditions, digital data are often unreadable in less than ten years, even when
traditional preservation methods are used.

Digital storage is becoming the norm for archaeological publication, even though most archaeologists probably do not consider the downsides of digital publication. Moreover, many specialized archaeological data only exist in digital formats (e.g., laser scans, digital photographs, extensive databases) and archaeologists will (and have) lost these datasets because of faults in digital preservation. Digital data often represent the
only record left after archaeologists excavate a site, and the loss of such valuable data is akin to bulldozing a site.

This thesis details my experiences during my internship at Digital Antiquity (an organization which specializes in data archiving), provides examples of other projects working on the digital curation crisis and gray literature problems, and finally discusses
the needs that these organizations may not be considering fully in their plans. This information will provide a primer for archaeologists about what and who to consider when creating, publishing, and storing data and information in digital formats.

New Media Texts of WWII: Kenneth Burke’s Intersection with Computer Culture

by Jason C. Thompson

Historia digital, historia de los medios ditales: antiguos dilemas para nuevos paradigmas

by Matilde Eiroa San Francisco

Conexiones. Revista iberoamericana de Comunicación, Volumen 3, nº 2, 2011, pp. 21-36

Zamiast zapachu książki… czyli jak odnaleźć starożytność w wirtualnym świecie. Digital Research in the Study of Classical Antiquity [Instead of the smell of a book...or how to find antiquity in a virtual world [...]], G. Bodard, S. Mahony (eds) ,Ashgate 2010, 210 p., Studia Europaea Gnesnensia 5, (in print)

by Monika Owsianna

Varouhakis V., Fiolitaki A. & Psarakis K. (2010), "Digitizing of icons and relics from the monasteries of Gonia, Chania and Preveli, Rethymnon and the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Ceramics from the Prefecture of Chania"

by Vassilis Varouhakis

Varouhakis V., Fiolitaki A. & Psarakis K. (2010), "Digitizing of icons and relics from the monasteries of Gonia, Chania and Preveli, Rethymnon and the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Ceramics from the Prefecture of Chania" in Andrianakis M. & Tzachili I. (eds.) Archaeological work in Crete 1: proceedings of the 1st meeting, Rethymnon, 28-30 November 2008, Rethymnon, 803-813 / Βασίλης Βαρουχάκης, Αναστασία Φιολιτάκη & Κωνσταντίνος Ψαράκης (2010), ‘Ψηφιοποίηση των εικόνων και κειμηλίων των Μονών Γωνιάς Χανίων και Πρέβελη Ρεθύμνου και της βυζαντινής και μεταβυζαντινής κεραμικής Νομού Χανίων στο Ανδριανάκης Μ. & Τζαχίλη Ι. (επιμ.), Αρχαιολογικό έργο Κρήτης 1 : πρακτικά της 1ης συνάντησης, Ρέθυμνο, 28-30 Νοεμβρίου 2008, Ρέθυμνο, 803-813.

The period from July to December 2007 the 28th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquites, in collaboration with the Labortory... more The period from July to December 2007 the 28th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquites, in collaboration with the Labortory of DML and the Centre for Technological Research of the TEI (Technological Education Institute) of Crete, conducted a broad program of recording and digitizing the icons and relics of the Gonia Monastery in Chania and Preveli Monastery in Rethymnon, and the Byzantine & Post-Byzantine pottery of the Prefecture of Chania. The project was included by the Region of Crete in the EU program "Information Society". During the program, two Microsoft Access databases, one for the two monasteries and one for the ceramics, were designed and used for the recording of data. Both of the monasteries had a large collection of icons and old printed books, in addition to fine work and textile relics. As for the pottery, the most representative part from the workshops of the Ephorate and the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Collection of Chania was that of the Castel Selino fortress in Paleochora, rich in numbers, decoration and style variety. besides access to the general public through the internet, this massive registration offered new and improved conditions for research and publication on a large piece of cultural heritage.

Reseña: La estrategia del simbionte, de Fernando Broncano

by Daniel Escandell Montiel

Escandell Montiel, Daniel (2012). "Reseña: La estrategia del simbionte". Caracteres. Estudios culturales y críticos de la esfera digital vol. 1 (1). http://revistacaracteres.net/revista/vol1n1mayo2012/resena-la-estrategia-del-simbionte-de-fernando-broncano/

Reseña del libro "La estrategia del simbionte" de Fernando Broncano. Delirio, 2012. Reseña del libro "La estrategia del simbionte" de Fernando Broncano. Delirio, 2012.

ConsoleGBL-Pedagogy_GROFF-HOWELLS-CRANMER

by Jennifer S. Groff

Co-authored with Cathrin Howells and Sue Cranmer

The main focus of this research project was to identify the educational benefits of console game-based learn- ing in... more The main focus of this research project was to identify the educational benefits of console game-based learn- ing in primary and secondary schools. The project also sought to understand how the benefits of educational gaming could transfer to other settings. For this purpose, research was carried out in classrooms in Scotland to explore learning with games played on games consoles, such as PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii. Interviews were carried out with school leaders, classroom teachers, and students in 19 schools and followed up by a series of lesson observations in four of these schools. Findings include significant impact on students’ performance and engagement, as well as strong support from participating teachers and school leaders.

The multimodal world of ancient objects and its usage in the classroom of the digital era - Ο πολυτροπικός κόσμος των αρχαίων πραγμάτων και η χρήση του στην εκπαίδευση της ψηφιακής εποχής

by Kosmas Touloumis

στον τόμο ΒΙΩΜΑ, ΜΕΤΑΦΟΡΑ ΚΑΙ ΠΟΛΥΤΡΟΠΙΚΟΤΗΤΑ:
ΕΦΑΡΜΟΓΕΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΠΙΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ, ΤΗΝ ΕΚΠΑΙΔΕΥΣΗ, ΤΗ
ΜΑΘΗΣΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΗ ΓΝΩΣΗ
(επιμ. Μ. Πουρκός και Ε. Κατσαρού),
εκδ. Νησίδες, 2011, σσ. 510-526

The multimodal world of the ancient objects in their social context could be a useful educational frame for the... more The multimodal world of the ancient objects in their social context could be a useful educational frame for the expression of the student’s social identity. This means that in the emerging new knowledge environment a new kind of school is needed. The use of new technologies (ICT) in the design and implementation of teaching/ learning activities is a crucial tool in order to attain this goal. Ancient objects, the archaeological finds in fact, and especially their digitized form, their digital surrogates, can provide the resources for educational scenarios and classroom activities. Students’ research and investigation, designing and problem – solving based learning, according to “Social Semiotics”, “Design” and “Multiliteracies” principles, are the key components of this approach. Thus students will make their own meaning about the past/present, they will produce multimodal texts, and they will, finally, reconstruct their world featuring their identity, through the deconstruction and the recontextualization in the present of the multimodal world of ancient objects.

Key-words: Ancient objects, Education, Educational scenarios, Digital heritage, Multimodality.

The end of theory - Chris Anderson

by Hatice Yazici

By Chris Anderson

Sixty years ago, digital computers made information readable. Twenty years ago, the Internet made it reachable. Ten... more Sixty years ago, digital computers made information readable. Twenty years ago, the Internet made it reachable. Ten years ago, the first search engine crawlers made it a single database. Now Google and like-minded companies are sifting through the most measured age in history, treating this massive corpus as a laboratory of the human condition. They are the children of the Petabyte Age.
The Petabyte Age is different because more is different. Kilobytes were stored on floppy disks. Megabytes were stored on hard disks. Terabytes were stored in disk arrays. Petabytes are stored in the cloud. As we moved along that progression, we went from the folder analogy to the file cabinet analogy to the library analogy to — well, at petabytes we ran out of organizational analogies.

"Testing the Limits": What Happens When Digital Humanities Meets Alternative Worldviews

by Jodey Castricano

Abstract

“Testing the Limits” aims to introduce a conceptual paradigm shift in theoretical approaches to... more Abstract

“Testing the Limits” aims to introduce a conceptual paradigm shift in theoretical approaches to the use of immersive technologies in a postcolonial, post-positivistic world. This means bringing into proximity alternative explanatory models of “reality”--such as quantum theory, the Indigenous philosophy of Leroy Little Bear, and the theory of synchronicity as developed by Carl G. Jung in collaboration with physicist Wolfgang Pauli--where these modes open into alternative worldviews which offer a rapprochement in the history of consciousness between science and art. This study, therefore, focuses on the instrumentality of theory itself in constructing perceptual models of reality (including scientific and artistic worldviews), especially where it is “virtual” and where it needs consider diverse philosophies, scientific theories and representations of space/time in relation to subjectivity. To illustrate this claim, the media work by Canadian artist, Char Davies will be offered as a case studies. Char Davies is a software developer and artist whose work is informed by her understanding of quantum theory.

Ferrer, Carolina. 2012. «Los estudios literarios hispanoamericanos y las bases de datos digitales en la era de la globalización». In América Latina, globalidad e integración, p. 635-46. Madrid: Ediciones del Orto.

by Carolina Ferrer

Searching for Philosophy: A Review of Google Scholar and Google News

by Anthony Beavers

This review is a bit dated.

First Paragraph: Though the Internet has been around since the Sixties, the world-wide web is now only ten years old.... more First Paragraph: Though the Internet has been around since the Sixties, the world-wide web is now only ten years old. In that time, it has seen unprecedented growth. Currently, Google searches more than eight billion web pages globally. Of course, without such search tools, a user would have difficulty finding anything of value. But even with them, finding academic scholarship remains a problem.

Noesis and the Encyclopedic Internet Vision

by Anthony Beavers

Noesis is an Internet search engine dedicated to mapping the profession of philosophy online. In this paper, I recount... more Noesis is an Internet search engine dedicated to mapping the profession of philosophy online. In this paper, I recount the history of the project’s development since 1998 and discuss the role it may play in representing philosophy optimally, adequately, fairly, and accessibly. Unlike many other representations of philosophy, Noesis is dynamic in the sense that it constantly changes and inclusive in the sense that it lets the profession speak for itself about what philosophy is, how it is practiced, and why it is important. In this paper, I explain how Noesis is dynamic and inclusive. I close by suggesting why such a communitarian representation of the profession is both timely and necessary.

The Hollins Community Project: New Media, Narrative, and Affective History

by Alli Crandell