What’s the role of mobile phones in the digital humanities? How do we archive the cultural and corporate history of the dot com era? What’s the edge of the edge in the digital arts these days? Why would you want to consult an encyclopedia that would have you as a contributor? Check out MITH’s Fall 2006 Digital Dialogues schedule, which will bring you a lunchtime seminar on all of these topics and much more, every Tuesday at 12:30 in MITH’s conference room with guests from UMD and far beyond.

With all events free and open to the public, Digital Dialogues are a superb way of plugging in to what’s happening around campus, and in the much wider world of the digital arts and humanities.

Word has reached MITH that the Virtual Lightbox, a software project by Associate Director Matthew Kirschenbaum and former MITH programmer/analyst Amit Kumar, was recently presented to the Attorney General of the United States at a conference run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Lightbox was used to display images throughout the conference.

A MITH Digital Dialogue
Tuesday, September 12, 12:30-1:45
MITH Conference Room, McKeldin Library B0135

MITH will be hosting its next Digital Dialogue in support of The September Project. Initiated by University of Maryland American Studies (and MITH) alum David Silver, “On or around September 11, 2006, people worldwide will attend activities of discussion, dialogue, and reflection in public, academic, and school libraries. Come together and learn from your community and from your world.” More information about The September Project is available here:

http://www.theseptemberproject.org/

There are over 400 libraries and other institutions participating world-wide.

MITH’s contribution will take the form of a roundtable Digital Dialogue on the September 11th Digital Archive:

http://www.911digitalarchive.org/

According to the site, “The September 11 Digital Archive uses electronic media to collect, preserve, and present the history of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania and the public responses to them.”

A few questions to get us started (please do come with questions of your own): What does it mean to “archive” 9/11 on the Web? What are the boundaries of this particular Web site *as* an archive? What new or unique role do born digital materials–email, cell phone text messages, digital photographs and video, blogs, and mainstream media sites–play in the memory and preservation of 9/11? What are the particular issues and challenges involved: ethical, historiographical, and technical? How else has the Web contributed to an archiving or preservation of 9/11, including the widely viewed alternative history (”conspiracy”) documentaries digitally distributed from YouTube and similar sites?

Please note that this Digital Dialogue will still take place during our regular Tuesday slot, on September *12*.

We have an exciting line up of Digital Dialogues scheduled for the remainder of the semester, *every Tuesday* at 12:30. Highlights of upcoming speakers include Kevin Bertram (CEO, Distributive Networks), who will present “You Can Take It With You: The Nascent Role for Mobile in the Digital Humanities,” as well as visits from Daniel Pitti of the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia, Jason Nelson (digital artist and poet) from Griffith University in Australia, and Stuart Moulthrop and Nancy Kaplan from the Information Arts program at the University of Baltimore. Look for our full schedule very soon.

Contact: Neil Fraistat, Director, MITH (www.mith.umd.edu, mith@umd.edu, 5-5896).

From: Neil Fraistat, Director

To: MITH Community

Re: New Staff at MITH

I’m delighted to announce the addition of two key full-time staff members, who have joined MITH over the summer:

Cindy Woo, formerly the Business Manager for both the Art Gallery and the Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies, is now serving MITH fulltime in that capacity. Cindy will be taking care of MITH’s business in the fullest sense of the word, helping to keep MITH functioning efficiently and smoothly. You’ll find her at the front desk when you visit MITH, or at the other end of the phone when you call. Please stop by and introduce yourself to her!

Doug Reside, who has recently defended his dissertation at the University of Kentucky, will be joining MITH as Assistant Director. As an undergraduate, Doug was a double major in Computer Science and English. His dissertation was a multimedia edition of the American musical, Parade, and while at Kentucky he worked on several humanities computing projects, including Kevin Kiernan’s celebrated Electronic Boethius. Doug brings to MITH strong skills as a programmer (notably Java and PHP) and as a working scholar in the Digital Humanities. He is very much looking forward to working closely with MITH Fellows, engaging in MITH’s in-house research, and becoming a vital member of the MITH community. Look for him beginning on September 25th. I’d like to give special thanks to the Search Committee, who worked so diligently and so well on this appointment: Matt Kirschenbaum (Chair), Kathy Cavanaugh, Patti Cossard, Greg Lord, and Bini Tecle.

In welcoming our two new staff members, I’d also like to thank publicly the two who have changed jobs over the summer. As many of you know, Carl Stahmer has returned for family reasons to San Diego, from where he is now operating actively as a Research Associate for MITH. Kevin Fries, who for the past three years has served so genially as MITH’s administrative assistant, is now a TA for the English Department. While we’ll miss their daily presence, both Carl and Kevin will still be active members of the MITH community.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at MITH this Fall! Neil