Friday, April 13, 2018

Digital Humanities at the Language Arts Conference




I've coordinated Language Arts conference over the last few years, but this was the first time that I used student-created compositions for the sessions. For two different activities, I utilized works produced by participants in the East St. Louis Digital Humanities Club -- an after-school program that involves high school and college students in products related to technology.

One of our sessions gave conference attendees the opportunity to listen to a selection of audio productions, which blended instrumentals with excerpts from poetry and statements from Malcolm X. All of the productions were produced by the DH club participants as well as one of my undergraduate students, Naseem Dove.



For another session, attendees took a look at "escape ads" -- creative blends of short narratives and images focused on tales of runaways fleeing enslavement through the use of special powers. The narratives for the project were composed by creative writer and professor Geoff Schmidt, and the visuals were produced by members of our DH club.  

The high school attendees at the conference were intrigued to learn that students just like them had produced the audio and visual compositions for the sessions.

Related:
Language Arts Conference, Spring 2018

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