February 13-14, 2012
This workshop will explore the intersection of ancient religion and the digital humanities. Can digital tools not only allow us to do our work faster and more thoroughly but also enable entirely new kinds of research? How might different digital data (e.g., textual, geographic, and material culture) be used together most productively? One session is devoted to “nuts and bolts” issues of funding, starting, and maintaining a digital project.
There will be a "pre-workshop" session on Monday, February 13, 10 AM - 12 PM. This session will introduce some general tools and concepts of use to digital humanists.
The workshop is free and open to the public. All sessions will take place in the Petteruti Lounge, located in the Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center at Brown University.
TENTATIVE PROGRAM
Monday, February 13
10:00-12:00 Digital Humanities: Some Tools and Topics
12:00-1:00 Lunch (on your own)
1:00-2:00 Greetings and Keynote
Tom Scheinfeldt, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
2:00-3:00 Handwriting Recognition
Chair: Ross Kraemer (Brown University)
~Digital Handwriting Analysis of Ancient Syriac Manuscripts (Michael Penn, Mt. Holyoke College)
~Automated Paleographical Analysis of Papyri (Robert Kraft, University of Pennsylvania)
3:00-3:30 Coffee Break
3:30-4:30 Information Portals
Chair: Katharina Galor (Brown University)
~A Syriac Reference Portal (David Michelson, University of Alabama)
~ThALES – Thesaurus Antiquorum Lectionariorum Ecclesiae Synagogaeque (Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra, École Pratique des Hautes Études)
4:30-5:30 Experiments in Hypertext
Chair: Katharina Galor (Brown University)
~Late-Antique Texts and the Power of Referential Reading (Sally Shockro, Merrimack College)
~The Study of Ancient Monotheism using Wiki Technology (Ory Amitay, Haifa University)
Tuesday, February 14
9:00-10:30 Visualizing Data
Chair: Omur Harmansah (Brown University)
~The Collegium Project: Digitally Registering Evidence for Greek and Roman Voluntary Associations (Sarah E. Bond and Matthew L. Belskie, Washington and Lee University)
~Viewshed Analysis as a Tool for Interpreting the Political Relevance of Sanctuaries in Hellenistic Asia Minor (C. G. Williamson, University of Groningen)
~The Rabbis of Antiquity: A Social Network Analysis (Michael Satlow, Brown University)
10:30-11:00 Break
11:00-12:00 Funding, Managing, and Advertising Your Digital Project: A Panel Discussion
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-3:30 Electronic Editions
Chair: James Fitzgerald (Brown University)
~ A Digital Edition of the Mishnah (Hayim Lapin, University of Maryland)
~
Corpus Tannaiticum: Mishna – Developing an Internet Tool Box (Ron Naiweld, CNRS, Paris and Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra, EPHE, Paris)
~
Digital Analysis of Mandaic Manuscripts (C.G. Häberl, Rutgers University)
~
eBibles: A Cooperative Database of Textual Witnesses of the Hebrew Bible (Ingo Kottsieper, Göttingen Academy of Sciences, and Noam Mizrahi, University of Göttingen)
~
Inscriptions in Late-Antique Egypt and Nubia: An Interactive Database (Paul Dilley, University of Iowa)
3:30-4:00 Break
4:00-5:00 Response (Tom Scheinfeldt)
Workshop Accommodations
A block of rooms for the workshop has been reserved at the Hampton Inn in downtown Providence. Shuttle service to the Brown Campus will be provided. When booking your room, please mention the workshop for a discounted rate.
For a map of Brown University, click here (the Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center is called Faunce House on the map).
Other useful information can be found here.
Sponsors
This workshop is sponsored by the Ruth and Joseph Moskow Fund in the Program in Judaic Studies; the Brown University Library; the Starr Lectureship Fund from the Dean of the Faculty; Department of Religious Studies; Department of Classics; Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World; and Program in Early Cultures.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information, contact the Program in Judaic Studies at 401.275.3240 or Judaic@brown.edu.