At the end of May, we welcomed our Digital Humanities collaborators from University of Exeter’s DH Lab to UBC Okanagan. Dr. Charlotte Tupman and undergraduate intern Connor Spence joined UBCO DH team Drs. Karis Shearer, Emily Murphy, Miles Thorogood and undergraduate intern Stephen French for a week at UBCO. The teams tested the training modules each has been developing, compared notes on infrastructure and community-building through research labs, and met with the larger community of FCCS students and scholars interested in DH .
Among the first stops in the visit was the new Commons Building, where Chief Librarian and Assoc. Provost Heather Berringer, Archivist Paige Hohmann, and Research Services Librarian Marjorie Mitchell gave us a tour of this phenomenal space, which houses UBCO Studios, UBCO Archives, and the Engagement Theatre, to name just a few, in addition to an array of teaching and study spaces.
The visit with library colleagues-collaborators was a useful opportunity to compare the different ways Digital Humanities research is supported and housed at University of Exeter and at UBC Okanagan. In both cases, however, we find DH underpinned by strong working relationships and research collaborations among members represented by 3 areas: departments, libraries, and advanced research computing.
Throughout the week, our teams did two rounds of testing and review of our training modules: the Exeter team brought their Text Encoding Initiative Module and shared it not only with our team but also with members of our Department of World Literatures and Department of English and Cultural Studies.
We, in turn, shared our Audio Digitization Module and demonstrated the process first hand, thanks to SpokenWeb technician Craig Carpenter:
A round of show-and-tell highlighted ongoing digital projects from UBCO, while Connor and Charlotte gave our FCCS colleagues an overview of how the DH Lab at U Exeter works:
And, of course, a visit to the Okanagan would not be complete without some down-time and sight-seeing. SpokenWeb RA Evan Berg and Karis Shearer gave our Exeter visitors a tour of the city, sharing some of its environmental history, while Francisco Peña took our guests canoeing:
As the teams wrap up our Digital Humanities training-modules projects this summer, we have a new collaboration to look forward to. “Press Play! Research Creation, Arts Entrepreneurship, and the Digital Archive” launches this fall and will feature new undergraduate research and exchange opportunities, so stay tuned!