*apologies for cross-postings*
Please circulate this to all scholars who may be interested.
We are happy to announce the first edition of DH4MA, the International workshop on tangible and intangible heritage digitization to promote marginal areas and rural development.
Title
DH4MA - (Digital Humanities for Marginal Areas)
About
The Digital Humanities for Marginal Areas (DH4MA) workshop aims to investigate the state of the art of tangible and intangible heritage digitization in marginal and rural areas and their accessibility. DH4MA will be held in conjunction with the DH2023 conference and is organized in the framework of the KiNESIS Erasmus+ project.
The digital divide issue affects several areas all over the world, including those that despite being part of the most developed countries, are behind the times of the digital revolution. Museums, libraries and centres of culture located in these areas often cannot foster their cultural heritage. In light of the above, Digital Humanities (DH) techniques represent an opportunity not to be missed to raise awareness of their cultural heritage and to overcome the digital divide.
The consciousness of the digital divide, poor visibility and the need to improve communication strategies emerged during the covid-19 lockdown, when several cultural institutions made their cultural heritage available online (Cicerchia et al., 2021; Agostino et al., 2020; Fresh, 2021), allowing people to enjoy it in a new different way (e.g. Guggenheim Museum of New York, The Paul Getty Museum of Los Angeles, The Uffizi Gallery of Florence, The Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam). Nevertheless, small centres of culture were not able to offer their collections online. Only a few of them were able to make a real revolution (Roblek et al., 2021), also by exploiting cooperation between only seemingly distant disciplines (e.g. computer science and librarians, humanists and game creators) to promote tangible and intangible heritage.
Topics of interest
Relevant topics for the DH4MA workshop include, but are not limited to, the following areas:
Cultural heritage digitization in marginal and rural areas;
Best practices to reduce the digital divide in marginal and rural areas;
Investigation and evaluation of the degree of digitization in marginal and rural areas;
DH techniques to promote cultural heritage;
Promoting cultural heritage through gamification techniques;
Research cooperation between people/teams with different expertise to promote cultural heritage;
Research projects aiming to reduce the digital divide;
Research projects aimed at promoting cultural heritage through cooperation between scholars and local associations
Research questions
Bringing together scholars dealing with different research fields, the DH4MA aims to answer (not only) the following questions:
Do exist examples of tangible and intangible heritage digitization that can be defined as best practices?
Which are the best strategies implemented at the global level to reduce the digital divide between marginal and rural areas and most developed areas?
Which are the best examples of cultural heritage promotion through the collaboration between people/teams with different backgrounds?
Is it possible to consider cultural heritage promotion through DH techniques as an opportunity to fight the depopulation phenomenon? How?
Submission instructions
Contributions must be submitted in English and represent original and unpublished work that is not currently under review. Contributions will be evaluated by the Program Committee according to their significance, originality, technical content, style, clarity, and relevance to the DH4MA workshop.
Contributions must be sent via email at dhformarginalareas@gmail.com by Wednesday, 12th April 2023 and must not exceed 1,500 words in length (not including the bibliography).
The publication of a selection of contributions from the DH4MA workshop is planned. After the workshop, authors of the selected contributions will be asked to send an extended version. Further details on the publication will follow soon.
Submissions will be evaluated based on
Reviewers’ general recommendation for acceptance;
Level of innovation of the contribution to DH subject area(s);
Appropriateness of the state of the art presented (including a bibliography);
Clarity and appropriateness of the research methodology described;
Clear and comprehensible submission
Venue
The DH4MA workshop will take place on-site at the University of Graz, Austria, in the framework of the DH2023 conference. Further details on the venue will follow soon.
Best contribution award
The contribution presenting the best use of DH techniques to promote cultural heritage in marginal and rural areas will be rewarded. The prize is sponsored by the KiNESIS Erasmus+ project. All the Program Committee members will have the right to vote for the best contribution.
Important dates
Submission deadline - 12 April 2023
Notification of acceptance - 3 May 2023
Workshop - 10 or 11 July 2023 (TBA)
In line with the DH2023 conference theme (i.e. Collaboration as opportunity), contributions presenting successful cooperation between only seemingly distant disciplines to promote cultural heritage are highly requested.
As workshop organizers, we will ensure a welcoming, antiracist, anti discriminatory and inclusive environment in full respect of human beings.
Organizing Committee
Antonio Pascucci, L’Orientale University of Naples (IT)
Carola Carlino, L’Orientale University of Naples (IT)
Johanna Monti, L’Orientale University of Naples (IT)
Program Committee (constantly updated)
Elisa Bonacini, University of Bari (IT)
Ruth Breeze, University of Navarra (ES)
Andrea D’Andrea, L’Orientale University of Naples (IT)
Stefania De Vincentis, University of Venice Ca’ Foscari (IT)
Marianna Marcucci, Invasioni digitali (IT)
Alfonso Santoriello, University of Salerno (IT)
Ludovico Solima, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” (IT)
Michele Domenico Todino, University of Salerno (IT)
Fabio Viola, Associazione culturale Tuo Museo (IT)
Chiara Zuanni, Centre for Information Modelling – Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, University of Graz (AT)
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References
Agostino, D., Arnaboldi, M., & Lampis, A. (2020). Italian state museums during the COVID-19 crisis: from onsite closure to online openness. Museum Management and Curatorship, 35(4), 362-372.
Cicerchia, A., & Solima, L. (2021). The show must go on… line. Museums and their audiences during the lockdown in Italy. SCIRES-IT-SCIentific RESearch and Information Technology, 11(1), 35-44.
Fresh, C. E. (2021). Museums in Lockdown: How Digital Media and Remote Offerings Saved the Museum from COVID-19 (Doctoral dissertation, Drexel University).
Roblek, V., Petrović, N. N., Gagnidze, I., & Khokhobaia, M. (2021). Role of a digital transformation in development of rural tourism destinations.
Rossato, L. (2020). When Brazil and India were modernist. Processes of digital documentation for the preservation of 20th century architectures, Maggioli Editore, Rimini.