Spring 2024

February 19, 4:00-6:00 (Silverman 310)

DSSN Social Hour

Come join us for conversation and a reception to learn more about the work of the DSSN, to meet others engaged in digital scholarship from across the university, and to share information about your own research.

The afternoon will include a “lightning” presentation from Claire Schen (History) about her project “Mapping English Captivity and Visualizing Networks of Captives and Agents in the Mediterranean” using Palladio Building Blocks. Another presentation by Theresa McCarthy and possibly others will briefly introduce the Haudenosaunee Archive, Resource, and Knowledge (HARK) portal being developed by the Indigenous Studies Department. HARK is a community-driven digital resource for the collection, preservation, and dissemination of Indigenous research, teaching, and learning.

Food and reception begin 4:00; presentations will begin about 4:30.

February 28, 12:30-1:30 (Silverman 310)

"The Heliotechnics/Heliotechniques Institute for the Study of Solar Practices" 
Elia Vargas, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Media Study.

This presentation focuses on Heliotechnics, a speculative media art project and website that explores new ways of thinking about energetic entities, such as petroleum, whale oil, electricity, and the sun to decenter anthropocentric representations of nature, culture, and technology. The project is a fictional science that explores solar practices—the practices, techniques, and technologies of living with the Sun, performed by humans and other earthly beings. The Heliotechnics website both operates as a media artwork creating a browser-based experience of video, sound, written, and performance-based artworks, and a platform to share the science of heliotechnics/heliotechniques: solar practices. It presents a pluralistic approach to meaning making, providing critical and creative inquiries that ask why Western humans presume that energetic entities should be put to work for human economic productive means. Solar practices explore relations that create alternative conceptualizations of meaning making, knowledge production, media, communication, community, agencies, and beings-together that challenge this assumption.

RSVP to dssn@buffalo.edu. 

March 28,  3:30-4:30 (Lockwoord 320) [postponed, new event info coming soon]

“Digital Scholarship Grants: Workshop and Open Discussion”
Nikolaus Wasmoen

Following a brief overview of important information for those interested in seeking grant funding for digital scholarship projects at UB, this session will be an open forum for attendees to ask questions about grant project ideas or plans, including specific challenges they may face in seeking the funding, resources, and collaborators or technical staff required for their research. I will provide a list of upcoming national grant opportunities of general interest to DSSN members, as well as look at some examples of previously funded digital scholarship projects that may serve as useful models.

RSVP to dssn@buffalo.edu. For planning purposes, please indicate in your RSVP if you are already interested in a specific project or grant, although this is not required.  

April 9, 2:00-4:00 (Lockwood 109) 

A Heliotechnics/Heliotechniques Workshop: Photovoltaic Futures and Aesthetics

With Elia Vargas and Anne Pasek

The Heliotechnics/Heliotechniques Institute for the Study of Solar Practices is a speculative media art project and website that explores new ways of thinking about energetic entities, such as petroleum, whale oil, electricity, and the sun to decenter anthropocentric representations of nature, culture, and technology. The project is a website for the science of solar practices—the techniques and technologies of living with the Sun that humans and other earthly beings do that make us the beings that we are or might be.

This Heliotechnics/Heliotechniques workshop focuses on the digital relations of photovoltaics in collaboration with environmental media theorist/researcher Dr. Anne Pasek. As energy forecasting and climate models stress, photovoltaic (PV) solar generation is an essential part of efforts to both rapidly expand and decarbonize the electrical grid. To preview this future (or hurry it along), many artists and activists have created aesthetic and prefigurative PV experiments in galleries, protest camps, and digital solar-powered platforms. This efflorescence of artist- and expert-led solar projects provide many insights about the opportunities and limits presented by PV as an aesthetic and political medium. Such work, however, remains largely disconnected from more quotidian communities and subjects. What do everyday people think about PV? Moreover, how might they think with PV, if given the chance?

Please RSVP to dssn@buffalo.edu. 

The Digital Humanities Research Workshop is hosting this event, which is co-sponsored by the Humanities Institute and the Department of Media Study.  

April 16, 12-3:30 (Silverman 310)

"Transformational Change: A Symposium on Ethical Approaches to Digital Scholarly Editing"

Guest speakers: 

• Clayton McCarl  Professor of Spanish and Digital Humanities, University of North Florida, 
• Christina Boyles Assistant Professor of Culturally Engaged Digital Humanities, Michigan State University; Director of Archivo de Respuestas Emergencias de Puerto Rico (The Emergency Response Archive of Puerto Rico; AREPR), 
• Erin Bartram Editor and Board President of Contingent Magazine; Associate Director for Education, The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, CT     
  

The Digital Humanities Research Workshop is pleased to host an afternoon symposium on the topic of "Transformational Change" with respect to the ethical obligations and possibilities presented by digital scholarly editing in a variety of fields. Three invited guest speakers will discuss their work leading innovative editorial projects in a variety of fields, whether in the classroom, working with community organizations, or within an independent academic journal. Our aim is to foster a conversation to explore the ethical values and commitments that underpin the ways that we conceptualize the role of editing, and digital humanities projects more generally, especially with regard to project design, collaboration, technical choices, legal restrictions, funding, and sustainability.

Beginning with lunch at noon and the talks at 12:30. Please RSVP to dssn@buffalo.edu, including any dietary restrictions you may have if you will be joining for lunch. 

The Digital Humanities Research Workshop is funded by the Humanities Institute. 

Tuesday, April 30  2:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. at 108 O’Brian

Tuesday, May 14  2:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Davis 101  

The AI at UB Forum events, hosted by the VPAA Generative AI Task Force.

April 30 at 108 O’Brian Hall 

• 2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – The VPAA Generative AI Task Force subgroups will give brief reports on their findings, including how AI research at UB is progressing in STEM fields, Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences and professional schools. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the task force’s work and provide input.
  
  
• 3:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Five winners from the VPAA Small Grants Program for using AI in teaching will provide five minute presentations in their areas of research. These grants were awarded to 10 UB faculty members who each received $5,000 to develop and discover new ways to incorporate AI in the classroom. The presenters are:
  • Shawn Lewis – School of Architecture and Planning
  • Jaekyung Lee – Graduate School of Education
  • Nathalia Paiva De Andrade – School of Dental Medicine
  • Randy Fernando – School of Architecture and Planning
  • Dominic Sellitto – School of Management

May 14 at 101 Davis Hall 

• 2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – Members of the VPAA Generative AI Task Force will present a readout of major AI recommendations for the university.
  
  
• 3:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. - A panel discussion with university experts on AI for the good of society.

All faculty and staff are invited to attend. Refreshments will be provided. To register, please fill out the form to select the event you would like to attend.  

May 8, 3:00 - 4:00 Online via Zoom

qc: A qualitative coding tool designed to support computational thinking

A talk by Chris Proctor (Department of Learning and Instruction, GSE; Engineering Education; CSE)

qc is a free, open-source command-line-based tool for qualitative data analysis (QDA) designed to support computational thinking (CT). qc was developed by Chris Proctor with support from a DSSN enabling grant.

In addition to making the QDA process more efficient, CT can contribute to the richness of qualitative interpretation. Although numerous powerful software packages exist for qualitative data analysis, they are generally designed to protect users from complexity rather than providing affordances for engaging with computational structures. This talk will present the design rationale for qc, briefly demonstrate its use in the context of a recent ambitious qualitative research project, and conclude with some reflections on the importance of our research communities building our own tools, particularly as we begin to collaborate more deeply with AI in our research.

Please RSVP by emailing dssn@buffalo.edu. to RSVP. You can join the meeting via Zoom at this link.