A meeting space for disciplines, students, researchers, technologies, languages, media, teachers.

People exploring and working with technology and meaning

making

HUMlab Creates Places for Unexpected Coincidences

Meetings are Important for Understanding new Techniques and Technologies

The meaningful artifacts have differences from traditional media

While at the same time requiring established interpretive and critical approaches

A (Concise) History of HUMlabA (Concise) History of HUMlab• 1994-96: Humanities Faculty appoints and runs a Multimedia Group• 1997: Concept for HUMlab is formulated and finance is sought from

Kempe Foundation with two million crowns granted.• 1998: Steering group is formed. Faculty Board grants financing.• 1999: Patrik Svensson appointed Deputy Director. Seminars begin.• 2000: HUMlab made a permanent working unit. Director Torbjörn

Johansson takes up a position at the Interactive Institute ‘Tools for Creativity’. Patrik Svensson made Director. Fifteen seminars are held in 12 months. The Language Lab is established.

• 2001: Finance from Kempe Foundation and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond

granted for total 7,5 million crowns. HUMlab Phase II begins. Seven or eight staff and the first national conference for the labheld on technology and language learning.

• 2002: HUMlab Seminar Series begins with 18 seminars during the year.

The first workshops are held; History Laboratories and DigitalCulture. Numerous projects are run; Virtual Theater, Computer Games and Players, Planning begins on a Masters Program.

• 2003: Humanities and Information Technology established as a priority researcharea by the Humanities Faculty. Two doctoral researchers appointed withdual affiliation, a model for research in HUMlab. An expansion of technology and the beginning of HUMlab themes

• 2004: Jokkmokk 2004 mobile blog project. More seminars and workshops. Twonew doctoral students begin with funding from Wallenberg Foundation.

• 2005: Planning of five point course ‘IT for Humanists’ begins. The HUMlab blog begins publishing. Several projects develop with the GIS project at Sävar historic village being one. Funding from EU is sought with a number of applications submitted. HUMlab is described as the “starkast och synligast i sitt slag i Norden” in a national and international evaluation commissioned by the Humanities Faculty. Two large international conferences are held and a symposium on data mining. A book is published from one of the conferences on language learning and IT. One more doctoral candidate begins work in HUMlab.

• 2006: Significant funding granted from Wallenberg Foundation, Kempe Foundation, Umeå University and Humanities Faculty. A physical expansion of HUMlab begins and five international post-doctoral fellowships are announced. The 2 year EU project “Query and context based visualization of time-spatial cultural dynamics” (QVIZ) is led by HUMlab. A blog opera project is begun with Kulturverket. The five pointcourse IT for Humanists is taught with high evaluations.

• 2007: Work begins on HUMlab II a doubling in the physical space of the lab anda significant expansion of technology. Five post-doc fellows begin their work in HUMlab. The staff of HUMlab is now around 20 people.

The HUMlab Concept

Laboratory

Studio

Meeting PlaceArchive

Classroom

Theater

Work Place

Broadcaster

Resource

Model

Gallery

Sense and Technology Should Not be Taken for Granted

Blogging in Minus 30 degrees Celsius

Steina Vasulka, founder of New York art space ‘The Kitchen’ performs in HUMlab

An Experimental Dialogue Between The Sámi and Pygmy Peoples

Interaction

Design

HUMlab is working in the 3D Online World ‘Second Life’

You are Welcome to Join Us

Postdoctoral fellowships in Digital Humanities at HUMlab

Jan Van Looy

Jeanne Lopiparo

Matt Ratto

Torill Mortensen

Peter Asaro

Qviz

‘Qviz’ will research and create framework for visualizing and querying archivalresources by a time-space interface based on maps and emergent knowledge structures. The framework will integrate social software, such as wikis, in orderTo utilize knowledge in existing and new communities of practice.

Blog Opera

The Future

Creative Arts Campus

Doctoral appointment in Humanities and Information Technology with Focus Upon Gender Studies. From 1 January 2008

Masters Program

Links• HUMlab YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/HUMlab

• HUMlab Blog http://blog.humlab.umu.se/

• HUMlab Streams http://www.humlab.umu.se/inspeladeseminarier • Papers and Essays http://www.humlab.umu.se/node/13

• Jokkmokk 2004 Blog project http://blog.humlab.umu.se/jokkmokk2004/

• HUMlab in Second Life http://blog.humlab.umu.se/?p=532

Jim Barrettjim.barrett[at]humlab.umu.se

http://www.soulsphincter.blogspot.com