Summer Institutes and Conferences

On August 31, 2017, WBH had its first meeting of the year, where we heard from those who recently attended summer institutes and conferences. Dr. Joddy Murray and Kayla Sparks attended the Digital Humanities Summer Institute in Victoria, B.C., last June. Dr. Murray presented on what he learned at the Open Access and Open Social Scholarship workshop. More presses are moving in the direction of open access publication, but young scholars need to be intentional about their publication priorities, especially when publishing their first book. Kayla Sparks talked about the ways feminist scholarship and digital humanities both enhance and challenge each other. She also reflected on the encouraging open and non-hierarchical community created in her workshop.

Rachel Chapman Daugherty attended the Writing Historical Histories workshop at the RSA Summer Institute in May. At this workshop, led by Cheryl Glenn and Jessica Enoch, scholars of all levels brought projects at all stages of development, and the workshop time was spent in hard work and helpful discussions about process and product .

Nick Brown presented at the Kenneth Burke Society conference in June, where Dr. Ann George gave a keynote address. He talked about the different presentation styles evident at an interdisciplinary conference, specifically between English and Communication scholars. Dr. George summarized her keynote in which she talked about the relevance of Burke's theories to the women's movement, particularly contemporary feminist protests. In her address, Dr. George used a feminist rhetorical style, even donning the pink knit hat that she wore during the Women's March in January.

Dr. Richard Enos finished the meeting with some wise advice for future conference and workshop participators: remember, potential employers are often in the audience. So, practice beforehand and present confidently! All presenters did excellent jobs of demonstrating what opportunities are available in the summer and reflecting on what they took away from these experiences. We plan to continue the pattern of frequent TCU attendees at summer institutes and conferences!

WBH President Nick Brown talks about upcoming WBH events.

Dr. Joddy Murray prepares to present about the workshop he attended at DHSI last summer.