Applications due for NEH Institute for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities

Summer 2012 NEH Institute for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities
Spatial Narrative and Deep Maps: Explorations in the Spatial Humanities
June 18-29, 2012

Call for Proposals:  Applications due Friday, February 3, 2012

The Virtual Center for Spatial Humanities (VCSH), a multidisciplinary
collaboration among Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
(IUPUI), Florida State University, and West Virginia University, is pleased
to announce an NEH Advanced Institute for summer 2012 designed to advance
exploration of key topics in the spatial humanities. The institute will
offer scholars the opportunity to discover the benefits of a
spatial-analytical approach to humanities scholarship and to explore how to
bend geo-spatial technologies, including GIS and Web 2.0 tools, to the needs
of the humanities.  Two areas of emphasis will be spatial narratives and
deep maps.  Fellows participating in the program will learn both by engaging
with a variety of existing projects as well as through the production of a
prototype project in collaboration with the VCSH team. Fellows also will
have an opportunity to present their own work and to contribute to scholarly
and Web products that result from the institute.

The institute will meet in Indianapolis from June 18 to 29, 2012 and will be
administered by IUPUI’s Polis Center. It will draw upon a
multidisciplinary faculty from the three collaborating institutions, as well
as leading scholars in the field of spatial humanities from the US and UK,
and will be supported technically by the advanced technology group of the
Polis Center. The institute schedule will allow time for fellows to interact
with the staff and to seek advice for their own projects or project ideas,
but the primary focus will be on how to use geo-spatial technologies to
enhance the narrative and analytical traditions of the humanities. The
fellows will work with project staff to develop a prototype deep map to
support multi-scalar and contingent analysis of problems of interests to
humanists. To focus this work, the institute will explore the spatial
contexts of American religion, using the Digital Atlas of American Religion,
an NEH-supported project of VCSH, and the multi-faceted evidence from the
Polis Center’s six-year study of the intersection of religion and urban
culture in a mid-sized American city. 

About the fellowships: 

Up to 12 fellowships will be awarded to individuals or teams who demonstrate
serious interest in the application of geo-spatial technologies to problems
in the humanities. While scholars in all humanities disciplines are eligible
to apply, we are especially interested in collaborating with those who have
experience in one or more geo-spatial technologies as well as scholars who
have thought about the spatial dimensions of American religion. 

During the institute, fellows will explore central issues in the spatial
humanities, including such topics as database structures and information
architectures, interactive design, and collaborative research, while
situating these concerns within the fields of American history and religious
studies. Guest lecturers during the summer include Ian Gregory (historical
GIS and digital humanities, Lancaster University), Anne Knowles (historical
geography, Middlebury College), Katy Börner (informatics and advanced
visualization, Indiana University), and Art Farnsley (sociology of religion,
IUPUI), among others. Institute leaders are David Bodenhamer (history,
IUPUI), John Corrigan (religious studies, Florida State), and Trevor Harris
(geography, West Virginia University). 

All fellows will participate in a two-week residency June 18-29 at IUPUI.
The residency will include colloquia and working sessions in which
participants collectively will develop project foundations and address
relevant issues in spatial humanities. Fellows also will be provided the
opportunity to present their own projects. Applicants need not be proficient
with geo-spatial technologies but must demonstrate some level of engagement
with them as well as with spatial questions and analyses. Evidence of the
capacity for successful collaboration and for scholarly innovation is
required. Fellowship awards will include a stipend of $3,000 for each
participant, as well as a travel allowance. Accommodation and meal costs
will be the responsibility of each fellow, but the institute will seek to
arrange low-cost housing for participants. We welcome scholars from all
career levels, from advanced graduate student to full professor.  

About the proposals: 

Proposals should include the following: • Two to three-page statement of
how participation in the institute will fit the scholarly and professional
goals of the applicant. • One-page description of the applicant’s
experience with geo-spatial technologies and spatial analysis. • Brief CV
(maximum of three pages). • Letter of support from department chair for
non-tenured faculty or from dissertation advisor for doctoral candidates. 

Projects that articulate a clear understanding of the potential of spatial
humanities and the problems associated with the use of geo-spatial
technologies in humanities scholarship will be regarded favorably.

David J. Bodenhamer
Executive Director and Professor
The Polis Center at IUPUI
1200 Waterway Blvd.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
317-274-2455