2014-2015

Exhibits & Collections

A Co-presented Digital Humanities Event

A general introduction for students, faculty, and staff to the processes of digitizing text and images, building collections/exhibits/archives using the Omeka platform, and writing Dublin Core metadata for the items contained therein. Essential for researchers whose work is archival and visual.

Metamorphoses of Medea

“Killer!” “Barbarian!” “Witch!” “Madwoman!” “Heroine!” Ever since Euripides staged his drama Medea in 431 BCE Athens — a play about marital passion, betrayal, and explosive revenge — the character of Medea has been called all these names and much more. Distinguished professor of Classics, Mary-Kay Gamel, will explore how Medea has been depicted in drama, poetry, visual art, music, and film, asking “What makes this figure so fascinating?” And how — even in our era in which graphic violence is prevalent throughout our media — the play continues to intrigue, haunt, and disturb audiences. This event is co-sponsored with the CWRU Department of Classics.

DH in the Classroom: A Primer

A Baker-Nord Digital Humanities Event

In this general discussion and presentation of a broad range of digital humanist tools, this workshop will offer instructors, faculty and graduate students an overview of technology that can be integrated into humanist pedagogy.

Faculty Work-in-Progress: Electric Baton: Science, Sound, and the Romantic Conductor

Hector Berlioz — along with Louis Spohr and Felix Mendelssohn — is often cited as the first of the modern conductors, a larger-than-life figure at once magisterial, quasi-magical and military. Among the formative moments of his conducting career was his concert at the Exposition universelle (Paris, 1855), which established him as a musical leader of formidable power.

Screening of “The Unknown Known”

Errol Morris’ documentary — a riveting extended interview with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld — is a cat-and-mouse game in which each player – interviewer & interviewee – thinks he’s the cat, making it both thrilling and disconcerting to watch. It is also a nature documentary about behavior at the very top of the imperial food chain, as well as a detective story about the search for a mystery that is hidden in plain sight.

An Introduction to DH Theory

This talk will offer a general introduction to the theoretical debates in the field of digital humanities in addition to exploring some of the ways digital practitioners have used their skills and projects to advocate for the humanities across disciplines.

The Crisis of Journalism and the Conversion of the United States from a Democracy to a Dollarocracy

population are sitting in the bleachers for a game at which they’re mere spectators. This talk examines the crucial role that the collapse of journalism has played in accelerating and making permanent the state of “Dollarocracy.” McChesney also discusses how American history – plus the experience of other democratic nations – suggests there are workable policy solutions to make possible a rich, diverse, uncensored, and competitive free press in the digital era.

Blackboard as a Digital Pedagogical Tool

This essential workshop will explore tactics to effectively use Blackboard for teaching. In addition to offering participants a broad overview of the platform’s capacities, this workshop will provide hands on training in its use.

This is a two day workshop; participants should plan to attend both days. The second part will be held on January 9th.

Participants should bring their laptop.

Humanities Graduate Student Happy Hour

All Case Western Reserve University Graduate Students are invited to attend the first Baker-Nord Center Humanities Graduate Student Happy Hour.  Please join us for some snacks, a drink or two, and a chance to meet and network with graduate students from all of the CWRU humanities departments.

Second Look Film Series: My Architect

This Oscar-nominated documentary features director Nathaniel Kahn searching to understand his father, noted architect Louis Kahn, who died bankrupt and alone in 1974. He explores his father’s past, interviewing architects such as Frank O. Gehry, as well as members of the multiple families started by the philandering Louis. What emerges is a portrait of a brilliant but unreliable man whose creations,which are featured prominently in the film, still astound.

Introduced by Cleveland architect Sally Levine, an instructor in the CWRU Department of Art History and Art.