Day of Digital Humanities -- maybe next year

The Day in the Life of Digital Humanities 2010 is 18 March. This is a study day for me (when I’m not working on digital humanities projects) so I’m not participating. I’ll watch this event with interest though, and maybe participate next year.

The obligatory Twitter hashtag is dayofdh.

learning in public

In my most recent talk on humanities computing, one of the issues that I raised, and that others asked about, was how humanities computing projects are evaluated in a way that can contribute to career advancement, especially for those of us who do not hold traditional research positions but are some kind of hybrid developer/research assistant. The time that I spend developing a database and website (what our end-users see) is time that I don’t spend writing scholarly articles (which would be better for my career). This is a conundrum that has been recognised by scholars in humanities computing, but as long as we remain in the academy, we have to adapt to the academy as much as work towards making the academy more adaptable to a new paradigm.

I know – and I keep being told – that it’s time I wrote a paper or two about my work on Founders and Survivors. I think that the primary material for this paper would be the project itself. As I look back over the last two years, I think that many of the FAS team have been learning a lot about methods and techniques in historical study that are new to us, if not entirely new. Since our website launched last year, some of this learning is taking place in public.

My ‘learning in public’ has meant learning about Drupal administration, learning to work with researchers from a variety of disciplines, and learning about the humanities computing landscape and where our project might be located in that landscape. This learning necessarily involves experimentation, risk-taking and public mistakes. I think some reflection on this learning process could be useful for others working or considering working on humanities computing projects. And perhaps, in the same spirit of learning in public, some of my thoughts on the process or fragments of a draft might be shared on this blog.

Trying to consolidate my online presence (again)

I seem to re-evaluate my online presence every few months, especially in terms of my home page and/or blog. I’ve been learning and using Drupal a lot at work over the last year, so it’s about time I managed my personal site with Drupal as well.

One fewer car … because I don’t drive, and because ‘one less car’ upsets my grammatically conservative self.

Refugee policy and 'The Indonesian solution'

I went to this public lecture nearly two weeks ago but haven’t got round to writing about it yet, a sad comment on my priorities these days. Here are some brief notes before it’s all forgotten.

Out to Sea: Refugee Policy Under Rudd Government

Jessie Taylor: Lawyer who visited Indonesia last July, detention centres and prisons, inhumane conditions.

Report: Behind Australian Doors. http://behindaustraliandoors.wordpress.com/

Film: Between the devil and the deep blue sea: A 52 minute documentary looking at the circumstances and decisions that lead someone to become a ‘boat person’. http://deepblueseafilm.wordpress.com/ (with trailer video)

‘The Indonesian Solution’: Australia pays the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) millions of $ to detain and ‘process’ asylum seekers (inc. Hazara from Afghanistan, Middle East…) in Indonesia.

Indonesia is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention (nearest signatory is Cambodia?) –> no obligations, standards, BUT their signing the convention may sweep issue under carpet.

IOM encouragement of ‘voluntary’ resettlement –> refoulement?

No accountability from IOM.

Processing of ‘queue’: 2-4 years, Australia accepts avg 52/year from Indonesia, 2100 in ‘queue’, wait 40 years.

UNHCR not processing anyone who arrived in Indonesia after 2007 (under Australian instruction?).

Need for real leadership from Australian government on this issue – Rudd will be re-elected (???) so can take a risk and show some bravery.

Refugee policy and 'The Indonesian solution'

I went to this public lecture nearly two weeks ago but haven’t got round to writing about it yet, a sad comment on my priorities these days. Here are some brief notes before it’s all forgotten.

Out to Sea: Refugee Policy Under Rudd Government

Jessie Taylor: Lawyer who visited Indonesia last July, detention centres and prisons, inhumane conditions.

Report: Behind Australian Doors. http://behindaustraliandoors.wordpress.com/

Film: Between the devil and the deep blue sea: A 52 minute documentary looking at the circumstances and decisions that lead someone to become a ‘boat person’. http://deepblueseafilm.wordpress.com/ (with trailer video)

‘The Indonesian Solution’: Australia pays the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) millions of $ to detain and ‘process’ asylum seekers (inc. Hazara from Afghanistan, Middle East…) in Indonesia.

Indonesia is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention (nearest signatory is Cambodia?) –> no obligations, standards, BUT their signing the convention may sweep issue under carpet.

IOM encouragement of ‘voluntary’ resettlement –> refoulement?

No accountability from IOM.

Processing of ‘queue’: 2-4 years, Australia accepts avg 52/year from Indonesia, 2100 in ‘queue’, wait 40 years.

UNHCR not processing anyone who arrived in Indonesia after 2007 (under Australian instruction?).

Need for real leadership from Australian government on this issue – Rudd will be re-elected (???) so can take a risk and show some bravery.