EVENT: Recounting Evidence in African American Digital Studies

Columbia University Libraries’ Studio@Butler will host an afternoon workshop entitled “Recounting Evidence in African American Digital Studies (REAADS)” on January 6, 2018 to coincide with Modern Language Association’s Annual Conference.

Scholars of African American experiences have long insisted that we shift perceptions about evidentiary privilege. Now, in tapping historical and contemporary humanities data, how do notions about evidence and recovery change when we reconsider what gets labeled “absent” or “present?” What are the advantages of meaning-making at the margins? From Colored Conventions to Ida B. Wells to the recent #SayHerName movement, subjects and figures once considered invisible are now core to varied approaches to studying the intersection of race, class, and gender.

Building on models in the field, this workshop aims to foster a community of scholars interested in developing digital projects in African American studies. We will do so by igniting a conversation about evidence and data that challenges popular ideas about obscurity and ubiquity connected to Black intellectual enterprises. Along the way, participants will also learn about practices in data curation, mapping, and text analysis.

Join us as we gather at the Studio@Butler to examine these case studies. No previous experience in digital humanities is needed, but those with digital humanities experience at any level are welcomed.

The initial team of collaborators includes:

• Caitlin Pollock (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis)
• Trevor Muñoz (African American History, Culture, and Digital Humanities, University of Maryland)
• Katie Rawson (Emory University)
• Sarah Patterson (Colored Conventions Project, University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
• Jim Casey (Colored Conventions Project, Princeton University)

More details are available on the event’s website.