My memories of Peru are already fading. How does time fly by so quickly? I meant to keep up my blogging, but our internet connections were very spotty, so I just kept putting my writing off. I've set aside some time today to reminisce a bit and get y'all updated on the goings-on of Lima and Cusco.
Believe it or not, I was in Peru for an academic conference. I (along with Cathy Davidson and several PhD Lab Scholars at Duke) presented at the HASTAC conference in Lima. What is HASTAC? The lengthy name is Humanities, Arts, Science, Technology Alliance and Collaboratory. I am a "scholar" in this online community. As a scholar, I write blog posts, participate in online forums, and "attend" online conferences about digital tools, pedagogy, and research and how those affect the discipline of history. While at the conference, I presented on a working group I co-founded at Duke, The Digital History Working Group (DHWG). The main theme of the conference was addressing a buzzword/topic known as the "Digital Divide" - the idea that the internet, although in theory is the great common denominator, is actually a space in which economic conditions affect one's access to digital resources (especially in countries outside of the North America and Europe). I spoke about the importance of face-to-face communication and locally-based workshop in the Digital Age and as a means to mitigate the effects of the Digital Divide.
In addition to getting the word out on the great work that the Duke DHWG is doing, I was able to meet scholars who share in interest in the Digital Humanities. To make things even more magical, the conference was held in the Minestrio de Cultura in downtown Lima. The building was stunning and was filled with Inca objects and other cultural productions from in and around Lima.
I really enjoy working with Digital Humanists. They tend to be more laid back, a bit quirkier, and very funny. Two of my favorite presentations folded in modern pop-culture references into serious academic study. The first study looked at the creation of fan fiction after the release of major movies such as Batman, Twilight, and the Avengers. These scholars were able to use data from sites such as fanfiction.net to trace how quickly fans produced fan fics after a big box office release. The Avengers had a significantly higher number of fan fics than Batman; the scholars hypothesized that it was the fact that Avengers had an ensemble cast whereas Batman only had one lead character to riff off of for their fiction.
Another scholar (and one who presented on my panel), talked about the popularity of Rage Comics in Latin America and how young men and women took an originally American cartoon and began claiming these drawings as their own by superimposing Spanish and English texts onto the images. She was a very powerful speaker and asked us all to find our own Rage Face to express our emotions. I'm a fan of this one...
After our first full day at the conference, we attended a welcome reception at the Minesterio de Cultura. We sipped on Peru's famous cocktail -- the Pisko Sour -- and enjoyed several cultural performances by a group of very talented musicians and dancers with Down Syndrome. The traditional Peruvian dance was amazing! It reminded me of the tango, in a way -- very sensual!
Other highlights from the conference include hearing Mitchell Baker (one of the founders of Mozilla Firefox) speak about her company and its goals to provide equal internet access across the globe. What an opportunity to hear such an eloquent, influential female entrepreneur speak about her endeavors in a male-dominated industry.
All in all, an eye-opening academic and cultural experience!
Believe it or not, I was in Peru for an academic conference. I (along with Cathy Davidson and several PhD Lab Scholars at Duke) presented at the HASTAC conference in Lima. What is HASTAC? The lengthy name is Humanities, Arts, Science, Technology Alliance and Collaboratory. I am a "scholar" in this online community. As a scholar, I write blog posts, participate in online forums, and "attend" online conferences about digital tools, pedagogy, and research and how those affect the discipline of history. While at the conference, I presented on a working group I co-founded at Duke, The Digital History Working Group (DHWG). The main theme of the conference was addressing a buzzword/topic known as the "Digital Divide" - the idea that the internet, although in theory is the great common denominator, is actually a space in which economic conditions affect one's access to digital resources (especially in countries outside of the North America and Europe). I spoke about the importance of face-to-face communication and locally-based workshop in the Digital Age and as a means to mitigate the effects of the Digital Divide.
In addition to getting the word out on the great work that the Duke DHWG is doing, I was able to meet scholars who share in interest in the Digital Humanities. To make things even more magical, the conference was held in the Minestrio de Cultura in downtown Lima. The building was stunning and was filled with Inca objects and other cultural productions from in and around Lima.
I really enjoy working with Digital Humanists. They tend to be more laid back, a bit quirkier, and very funny. Two of my favorite presentations folded in modern pop-culture references into serious academic study. The first study looked at the creation of fan fiction after the release of major movies such as Batman, Twilight, and the Avengers. These scholars were able to use data from sites such as fanfiction.net to trace how quickly fans produced fan fics after a big box office release. The Avengers had a significantly higher number of fan fics than Batman; the scholars hypothesized that it was the fact that Avengers had an ensemble cast whereas Batman only had one lead character to riff off of for their fiction.
Another scholar (and one who presented on my panel), talked about the popularity of Rage Comics in Latin America and how young men and women took an originally American cartoon and began claiming these drawings as their own by superimposing Spanish and English texts onto the images. She was a very powerful speaker and asked us all to find our own Rage Face to express our emotions. I'm a fan of this one...
After our first full day at the conference, we attended a welcome reception at the Minesterio de Cultura. We sipped on Peru's famous cocktail -- the Pisko Sour -- and enjoyed several cultural performances by a group of very talented musicians and dancers with Down Syndrome. The traditional Peruvian dance was amazing! It reminded me of the tango, in a way -- very sensual!
Other highlights from the conference include hearing Mitchell Baker (one of the founders of Mozilla Firefox) speak about her company and its goals to provide equal internet access across the globe. What an opportunity to hear such an eloquent, influential female entrepreneur speak about her endeavors in a male-dominated industry.
All in all, an eye-opening academic and cultural experience!
love the rage face!!
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