listening to repeating

On Sunday, I returned from Computers and Writing 2009, which was held at UC-Davis.  The conference was great, and I met a number of people who are asking some really interesting questions about the use of new media as scholarship,  the role of code and platforms in composition studies, and collaboration and expertise in technology-focused research and writing.

I was also almost convinced to start using Twitter.  Almost.

I also talked about Latour a lot.

This year, C&W uploaded all sessions—including the keynotes, the panels, and the town halls—to iTunes U.  Check it out.  There’s video and audio provided.  My first  panel was in Session A1, “Publics, Intellectuals, and the Digital Humanities,” where I gave a talk entitled, “The Emergence of Collaboration and Expertise in the Digital Humanities.”  There, I reviewed three different interdisciplinary collaborations that I’ve been involved in, and I quickly (all too quickly) articulated what I learned about collaboration, expertise, and project sustainability from those efforts.  Throughout the talk, I referenced the work of Franco Moretti, Chris Kelty, and Bowker and Starr, and I also touched on the recently released “Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0.”

Echoing the manifesto, my refrain was the “dirty hands” of digital humanities scholars who work hands-on with technology, treating it as more than a concept or object of inquiry.  These hands-on engagements with technology raise important questions about how gadgets and software function in collaborative, interdisciplinary projects and how people in the humanities situate themselves in relation to others through technology.   Expert?  Tinkerer?  Novice?  Luddite?  As the digital humanities proceed, how should its scholars identify?  Or, more importantly, what kind of knowledge and experience will people in the field expect of each other and with what consequences on scholarship?

Right now, I’m thinking that I’ll be tackling such questions at C&W 2010 and perhaps, in part, at this year’s annual MLA meeting, where I’m talking about digital humanities projects and their publics.

But back to C&W 2009 . . . I also participated in Session I2, “Sustained Systems, Sustainable Research: A Look at Undergraduate, Project-Based Approaches to the Digital Humanities,” where I had the pleasure of chairing a panel of four UW undergraduates and speaking briefly about how to institutionally recognize and support undergraduates for their work.  Overall, the talks in this panel went very well.

Also added to this year’s program were “lightning talks,” where—before the conference sessions began—presenters had the chance to quickly plug the talks they were giving over the course of the weekend.  Oh, the art of the elevator pitch.  At first, I was a bit shy to say anything; however, I ultimately found the lightning talks to be really productive and amusing.  I hope, in the future, that C&W continues to offer these during the opening reception.  They’re fun!

In iTunes U, the audio for both of the panels (A1 & I2) is under the “Sustainable Computing” tab, and the lightning talks are under “@GetInfo.”   This whole recording thing is starting to make me really self-conscious about my mid-talk stumbling and fumbling.  It’s almost enough pressure to get me reading papers aloud at conferences again!