Monday, March 24, 2014

Bloomsburg Explores Digital Humanities

This spring the Bloomsburg University Institute for Culture and Society’s Annual “Bloomsburg Explores” Symposium presents Bloomsburg Explores Digital Humanities. The symposium is a three-day series of discussions, lectures and other events centering on digital tools and projects relevant to faculty and student creative work and scholarship, and on the future of digital liberal arts.

The lineup for the symposium includes the following events:

Faculty Panel Discussion: “Digital Tools and Projects in the Arts and Humanities” (Monday, April 14 at 3 PM in Centennial 239) featuring Professors Sue O’Donnell (Art and Art History), Alla Myzelev (Art and Art History), Robert Dunkelberger (Library), Stephanie Schlitz (English), Christopher Podeschi (Sociology), Jennifer Whisner (EGGS), M. Safa Saracoglu (History)

Student Panel Discussion: “Digital Projects In and Out of the Classroom” (Wednesday, April 16 at 7 PM in Centennial 201) An all-student panel will discuss class-based projects, internship projects and student participation in University-related programs (e.g., the BU Writing Center, the Center for Community Research and Consulting, the University Archives, and the Magee Archives Project)

Professor William Pannapacker
Featured Guest Lecture: "Stop Calling it Digital Humanities, Start Calling it Digital Liberal Arts" April 21, at 7 PM, McCormick Center for Human Services Rm. 1303) from Professor William Pannapacker, Professor of English at Hope College and founding director of the Hope College Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Scholars Program in the Arts and Humanities, which has become a model for the integration of digital technology into undergraduate research in the humanities.

The Institute for Culture and Society promotes research, scholarship, and the creative and performing arts in the College of Liberal Arts at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. The Institute organizes lectures, presentations, and performances that explore and elucidate aspects of human culture and society. Through such events, the ICS works to share the intellectual and creative achievements of COLA faculty and students with the Bloomsburg University community and with the regional community.

For more information, visit the ICS Symposiums page.


Thursday, March 13, 2014

History Student Presents Research at the National Collegiate Honors Council in New Orleans

Allison Huber, a BU senior double-majoring in History and Secondary Education/Citizenship, presented a research paper at the National Collegiate Honors Council annual conference in New Orleans this past November on the topic of "The Nobles in the French Revolution."  Her presentation summarized findings from her year-long BU Honors Independent Study project, mentored by History professor Michael Hickey.

Allison Huber presenting at the National Collegiate Honors Council,
courtesy of Michael Hickey
Huber presented her work on a panel at the National Collegiate Honors Council annual conference, which gathered on November 6-10 in New Orleans.  The event brought together hundreds of Honors Students from across the country, including seven BU students.  Huber was the group's only COLA representative and the only BU student to present a formal paper rather than participate in a poster session.  Her paper was selected by a NCHC research committee in a competitive process and was included in a panel on Student Interdisciplinary Research. 

Huber studied how aristocrats described and understood their own experiences during the French Revolution in their diaries, journals, letters, and memoirs, and used that information to make generalizations about how nobles viewed and reacted to revolutionary transformations of society. 

She found that many nobles in France initially supported the Revolution. In general, though, noble fear of the revolutionary government started soon after the abolition of privileges in 1789 and then multiplied as the moderate revolutionary government of 1789-92 instituted increasingly anti-aristocratic policies. Noble fear and hatred of the revolution peaked with the Jacobin Reign of Terror in 1793-94. Huber concluded that tracing the evolution of aristocratic attitudes in 1789-1794 helps us understand the nobility's actions during the Third, or Thermidorian, Phase of the Revolution in 1795-1799. 

The fifteen minute presentation focused on the sources Huber used and her research methods, her main conclusions, and possible areas for further research.  Her presentation was followed by questions from the panel discussant and the audience.  "It was an incredible experience and I was proud to represent the university and the Honors Program,” said Huber.