Evidently: New Humanities Scholarship

CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B

EVIDENTLY:NEW HUMANITIES SCHOLARSHIP

Professor Deb Verhoeven@bestqualitycrab


ONE GOOD TURN…Deserves another … and another … and …

•spatial turn•linguistic turn•performative turn•non-human turn

•material turn•neuro-scientific turn •computational turn•ecological turn


THE METHODOLOGICAL TURN


THE NEW HUMANITIES

•Digital humanities•Spatial humanities•New materialism

•Object-oriented humanities•Economies of the humanities•Algorithmic humanities


RESEARCH METHODOLOGYworkshop1. Identify the first three steps you will take to find answers

to/explore your thesis problem/question?2. Who will you talk to in order to get started with your research?3. What types of evidence will you use to answer your question? 4. What resources will you need to answer your question?5. What tools and techniques will you use (name at least three)?6. How will you know when you have solved your problem?7. What new information or knowledge will you have? What will be

different? Will anything have changed?


DISSEMINATION AND IMPACTworkshop

1. How will you communicate your research results to others?

2. How will this research contribute to the development of your research track?

3. How does this research align with Deakin’s strategic goals?

4. How will this research contribute to the your professional and/or creative industries?


METHODOLOGY?•A systemic approach to solving a problem•Incorporates the use of tools, techniques, infrastructure


HUMANITIES NETWORKED INFRASTRUCTURE


NATIONAL E-RESEARCH COLLABORATION TOOLS AND RESOURCES (NECTAR)

•NeCTAR is a $47 million dollar, Australian Government project, conducted as part of the Super Science initiative and financed by the Education Investment Fund. The University of Melbourne is the lead agent, chosen by the Commonwealth Government.


VIRTUAL LABORATORY PROGRAM


VIRTUAL LABORATORY

Illustrations: Steven Hayes


HUMANITIES INFRASTRUCTURE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT (HIVE)








THE HUNI VL WILL:• Enable humanities researchers to work with cultural datasets more

efficiently and effectively, and on a larger scale than is presently possible;• Encourage the systematic sharing of research data between humanities

researchers (including the cultural dataset curators themselves), the community and cultural institutions;

• Encourage a higher level of cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, both within the humanities/creative arts and between the humanities/creative arts and other disciplines, and the wider public;

• Support innovative methodologies such as network analysis, game theory and ‘virtual history’ that rely on large-scale datasets; and

• Ensure that Australian cultural datasets and the research associated with them become part of the emerging international Linked Open Data environment.


HUMANITIES RESEARCH?


HUMANITIES RESEARCH LIFECYCLEJohn Unsworth (2000) Scholarly Primitives: What methods do humanities researchers have in

common, and how might our tools reflect this? Kings College, London: http://www3.isrl.illinois.edu/~unsworth/Kings.5-00/primitives.html

1. Discovering2. Annotating3. Comparing4. Referring

5. Sampling6. Illustrating7. Representing


SHORTER VERSIONUniversity of Minnesota Libraries (2006) A multidimensional framework for academic support: final

report” Minneapolis: http://purl.umn.edu/5540

1.Discover2.Gather3.Create4. Share


HUNI FRAMEWORK

•Discovering (encounter, search and browse);•Analysing (collecting, annotating, visualizing and mapping);•Sharing (collaborating, publishing, citing and referencing).


SERENDIPITYThe X-factor of humanities research


ACCIDENTALLY (ON PURPOSE)


UNDERSTANDING SERENDIPITYDaniel Liestman, “Chance in the Midst of Design”, RQ 31 (Summer 1992)

Accident•Coincidence•Prevenient grace•Synchronicity

Sage•Perseverance•Altamirage•Sagacity


ANYTHING ELSE?Interdisciplinarity as a serendipity techniqueSocial networking and crowdsourcingDatabasesWays of reading and writing


GOOGLE SEARCHStephen Ramsay (2010) The hermeneutics of screwing around: Or what

do you do with a million books: http://lenz.unl.edu/

“The thing they manage to get right is, regrettably, the one thing that is least likely to turn up something not already prescripted by your existing network of associations.

In the end you’re left with a landscape in which the wheel ruts of your roaming intellect are increasingly deepened by habit, training, and preconception. Seek and ye shall find. Unfortunately you won’t find much else.”


David Ellis (1993), “Modeling the information-seeking patterns of academic researchers: A grounded theory approach” Library Quarterly 63; 469-486

•Starting (using contacts)•Chaining (following chains of citations)•Browsing (semi-directed searching)

•Differentiating (using differences between sources to evaluate quality)•Monitoring (following particular sources)•Extracting (going through a particular source)


BERRYPICKINGMarcia J. Bates (1989), “The design of browsing and berrypicking techniques for the

online search interface”, Online Review 13

•Bit at a time retrieval•Differs from traditional model of search in that the question is evolving and the search process is also dynamic using a wide variety of search techniques and sources.

•“each new piece of information they encounter gives them new ideas and directions to follow and consequently a new conception of the query”


RECURSIVE PROCESSESSerendipity as a non-linear research technique

•Starting point is not often a narrow question but a large and unwieldly topic that is refined over repeated and evolving techniques

•Research is an exploratory, generative activity (not a summary of facts) in which research objects are always part of larger conversations (i.e. need to adopt a rhetorical disposition)


CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SERENDIPITOUS RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

King’s College, London•This policy only applies to staff and PhD students at King’s College London conducting research with human participants. The code of conduct is applicable to staff and PhD research only. •Unanticipated research is defined as opportunities for gathering information which have not been created by the researcher and which could not have been reasonably anticipated by the researcher. This definition cannot be applied to research with vulnerable individuals or children, or to the use of prepared materials (such as questionnaires), and it cannot be applied to research which in any way falls under the remit of the NHS.

•Please note that the researcher must sign up to the code of conduct before the unanticipated research opportunity has been encountered; it is not possible for researchers to use data gained from an unanticipated research opportunity if they were not signed up to the code of conduct prior to the encounter. •In addition to this it should be noted that any new research opportunity involving human participants that is generated as a result of an unanticipated encounter will not be covered by the terms of the code of conduct, and as such would need to go for formal ethical review as per the normal procedures.


CHANCE FAVORS THE THE PREPARED MINDDans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.

In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind. Louis PasteurLecture, University of Lille (7 December 1854)


CHANCE FAVOURS THE CONNECTED MIND

HTTP://YOUTU.BE/NUGRZGDBPFU

http://youtu.be/NugRZGDbPFU



