Wading in DAH (Digital Art History) Water: A Workshop Week for Those Beginning and Curious, University of Maryland, College Park, May 26–29, 2015

The past few years have seen within the field of Art History a groundswell of interest in the Digital Humanities (DH for short), with a crop of well-funded institutes last summer signaling of the arrival in earnest of Digital Art History, the term many are giving DH-centered Art History. These institutes are wonderful, but not all will have the opportunity to attend as a result of what can be a competitive application process. As well, many feel intimidated by the perceived cloistered expertise of DH-themed gatherings and are unsure just how they and their work can fit, and where they can start to gain some of the needed expertise.

That is where “Wading in DAH Water” comes in. Conceived as a gentle and easy introduction to some facets of Digital Art History, akin to slowly entering a swimming pool via the shallow section, this four-day event covers some of the more popular areas of DAH (mapping, virtual modeling, augmented reality, online exhibitions, database-building and visualization) and is divided into two parts: Tuesday features rotating showcases of different methods in DAH (to allow you to sample a bit of everything) and the remainder of the week offers free, drop-in-as-you-will workshops so that you can dive in a bit more and get hands on experience with a method or tool. Organized by the Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland, these workshops will be run by Collaboratory staff, members of the DIG (graduate students in the Digital Innovation Group), and some old friends.

Topics likely to be covered include Mapping, Virtual Modeling, Omeka + Neatline, Augmented Reality, and Databases + Basic Visualization.

Registration requested.