If you found yourself unable to concentrate due to the stressors, fears, and upset of COVID-19, then you were not alone. I found my ability to focus on small tasks almost impossible at moments. I also had the hardest time retaining information. With frequent check-ins with my students, it was clear they too were struggling as well. We brainstormed at… Read more →
Category: Digital Art History
Reimagining Participation Points in the Classroom, Oh My!
After years of experimentation (with successes and failures), I’ve finally settled on a great way to reimagine participation in the classroom. I am fully aware that this won’t work for many people, or even most classes, but it has worked wonders for my art history classes under 30 students. Once I found the winning recipe, I realized I’d never be… Read more →
Assessing the Usefulness and Validity of Online Sources, or Developing Information Literacy
A couple of years ago I published an article in the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy called “Doing Digital Art History in a Pre-Columbian Art Survey Class: Creating an Omeka Exhibition Around the Mixtec Codex Zouche-Nuttall (2018). As part of this essay I shared examples of assignments I use in a Pre-Columbian art class, which are part of a… Read more →
Developing a Research Project about Using Virtual Reality in the Large-Lecture Humanities Classroom
This summer (2019) I am working with a wonderful undergraduate student (let’s call her L because I’ve not asked her if she wants to be named) on a collaborative research project. We applied for a summer undergraduate research project for funding, and we are working together for several months on the possible applications of virtual reality in the classroom. Neither… Read more →
Low Tech Digital Art History: An Activity about Metadata
One of the most common things I hear from colleagues who seem terrified by DAH is that it requires too much technology, takes too much class time, or just seems too out there for them. This post is for them, or for anyone else that thinks teaching DAH always has to involve computers, the internet, coding, or complicated software. It… Read more →
How do we create a field of Public Art History?
After my last post on Public Art History (PAH), I’ve continued to think about what a field of PAH might look like. With the continuing decline in academic positions, especially in the humanities, could a field of Public Art History help to develop more career options outside of academia? With a field of Public Art History, could we shift the… Read more →
Using Google Sites in a Renaissance Art History Class
This past semester (Spring 2017), I decided to experiment with Google Sites in my Renaissance art history class. Originally I planned to have students create an Omeka exhibition, as I’ve done in the past, but in the spirit of adventure I decided to mix it up. I wanted to experiment with the new Google Sites myself, and I decided to once… Read more →
Creating a new Digital Art History (#DAH) Class
Working with a wonderful colleague this past year, I helped get a digital humanities (#dh) minor approved at Pepperdine. She did the lion’s share of the work, but I was excited by the prospect of creating the new minor to provide students with a foundation in #dh. Plus, it seemed an exciting way to encourage myself to think more about… Read more →
Incorporating Digital Art History into the Curriculum
As the beginning of the semester rapidly approaches (and the summer sadly ends), I find myself trying to incorporate new digital tools into my three courses. After the GMU/Getty institute in Digital Art History ended, I began changing my syllabi to include more digital tools and projects. I have to remind myself not to overload students with all the wonderful… Read more →
Day 8: Dirty Laundry and the Potential for Public Art History
Is public art history possible? What does it look like? How can we convey the political nature of art better to people (anyone)? How do we overcome certain perceptions people have about art history? How do we translate our personal interests and disciplinary ideas and trends for a broader audience? Do we need to do this at all? These were… Read more →
Day 7: The Power of Visualization
I am indebted to Spencer for teaching us his formulas for some of our data. I am not the most skilled person with Excel. For my work on the Sacred Heart, I’ve always wanted to make a chart like the above of the percentages of Sacred Heart texts published in different countries in the eighteenth century. I probably should have… Read more →
Day 6: Mining Data
I had high hopes for the applicability of data mining to my current/future project and my long-term research on the Sacred Heart. I’ll largely discuss my research on the Sacred Heart because I’m familiar with the material, having worked with it/on it for the past decade. I thought it would be useful to have a “safety” to see how well… Read more →
