Things That Matter 5
Material and Culture in/for the Digital Age
This fifth edition of the highly successful summer school Things That Matter addresses the tension between the materiality of sources and their digitization. The recent advances of digital technology have created new modes of reproduction and forms of consumption that have substantially reshaped the concepts of ‘object’ and of ‘collection’ at the heart of cultural institutions such as libraries and museums.
The summer school engages with key questions that arise from the study of the past in the digital age. These issues include the changing nature of objects such as books and scientific instruments as source materials; the history and practice of collections and collecting, digitization and its challenges, both technological and intellectual.
TTM 5 maps the possibilities and challenges posed by the digital age. The ongoing process of digitization makes sources of the past available in a previously unknown extent, but what does this mean for researchers?
We will also discuss the role of objects in Public History. How does society approach the legacy of “things” in museums and heritage institutions? Which objects are “worth keeping”, why and when? Who determines the selection process and what are selection criteria for curators, archivists and other agents in the sector? What collections are digitized and why those? Who makes the selections? How do we meet scientific demands on systematic design and transparency when working on online search engines and differing (and sometimes incompatible) designs of data bases?
The summer school brings together experts from both academia and the cultural heritage sector. Over the course of one week of intensive teaching, they will deliver lectures, lead seminars and hands-on sessions in libraries and museums, and supervise student-led projects and presentations. After 4 successful editions in Groningen, the summer school is now hosted by one of its partners; Uppsala University in Sweden.
Course information
Target audience
Master students and PhD students working in the disciplines of History, Art History, Museum and Heritage Studies, Cultural Studies.
Students should be studying at (Research) Master level or should be working on the PhD projects .
It is expected that the participants have a sufficient command of the English language to actively participate in the discussions and to present their own work in English .
Programme
The summer school programme will start on 17 June 2018 and end on 21 June 2019. A schedule will follow soon.
Learning outcomes
After this course you will be able to:
- assess and to apply different theories and approaches, particularly in Digital Humanities Research, to your own research.
- work in an international team during an intense study week.
- present your own research and to comment constructively on research of your peers.
Workload
Approx. 30 hours of teaching and learning activities over the course of one week (Monday-Friday). Typically, the summer school will consist of lectures, hands-on sessions and excursions and student-led group work.
Tasks:
- Actively participate in all components of the Summer School. All participants must demonstrate that they have digested and analysed the reading for each component of the Summer School
- Present their own research in progress or research design
- Write an essay in which they critically discuss the themes of the Summer School in relation to their own research
- Write a SWOT analysis of the Summer School in which they reflect critically on their learning experience
Upon successful completion of the programme, the Summer School offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 30 hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.
Fees
Participation is free.
Housing
Participants need to arrange their own accommodation. For a list of possibilities, kindly contact the organizers.
Summer school and the University of Groningen
The Summer School is developed in collaboration with the Research Master Classical, Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the UG and the related Master programmes at Uppsala and Durham. These programmes offer interdisciplinary and cross-chronological approaches to the study of the societies and cultures in the premodern and early modern world.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://www.rug.nl/education/summer-winter-schools/summer_schools_2019/ttm/