As we draw close to the end of the semester and of my first foray into public (and digital) history, I return to a question that has remained with me since starting this blog: in what way can we produce public history in a way that represents multiple experiences effectively? How can we use …
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Pod-Cast Away: Hearing History and the Benefits of the Medium
Having been on both sides of education, I’ve learned through experience that people have different styles of learning. Some prefer visuals over textual information. On the other hand, some prefer focusing on one task or activity at a time with no divided focus. To me, as a first time user, podcasts seem to be a …
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A Book by Any Other Name: Text Analysis and Google Books
It is tempting to think that new, digital media should be able to recapture every element of the old and to show them in a new light. This begs the question of how far have online tools come along in making that a reality to the potential benefit of historians. This week, I tried multiple …
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Right Before Your Eyes: Virtual Reality and Historical Narrative
It is interesting how virtual reality (or VR, for short) has resurged in popularity in the same vein of vinyl records, Polaroid cameras, and other tech. The stereotypical heavy goggles people wore to fly at sci-fi conventions have been replaced by mobile phones we can strap to our heads and use just about anywhere. Along …
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Chicago: The City in a Garden
In the 1830’s, when Chicago incorporated as a city, its still-growing government adopted the motto “Urbs in horto,” a Latin saying that means “City in a Garden.” Though the city did not have as many green spaces then as it does now, Chicago’s growth can be measured by the expansion of its network …
Pwning the Narrative: Storytelling in Small-Scale Video Games
You are checking Facebook to see if your picture of brunch got any likes when you see it: another Farmville invite. Your eyes roll. You click the “ignore” or “delete” button and move on with life. Sound familiar? In an ever-expanding digital age, social media like Twitter, Instagram and others have increasingly connected us by …
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Making Sense of Metadata
Metadata. You have probably heard the word mentioned often in the news recently. Consumer advocates are worried at the rate at which consumer’s metadata is being used by companies to track their browsing and purchase history for targeted advertising. Others are concerned about the potential for this information to also be tracked by the federal …
Can History be Photogenic?
I have talked a lot about “the web” and history lately. We have already seen the potential in Twitter and author-created websites for generating or sharing historical knowledge, but what about other social media? Many of my peers in Professor Robert’s course have written about the use of Instagram, in particular, as a platform. While …
Unraveling the History Web
Last week, I talked about the benefits of using Twitter as a platform to share work and news in the historical community. The organizations and individuals I have found on Twitter have proven time and again the potential of online platforms for reaching audiences and peers. That being said, how are scholars using “the web” …
History in 280 Characters
When you think of historians, what do you picture? A bunch of older academics reading books and writing in leather armchairs? In last week’s post, I examined how Jeffersonian era citizens reacted to physiognotraces (or shadow silhouette portraiture) and discussed how historians ought to evaluate what “new” media contributes or signifies in their unique historical …
Bensley's History Hivemind 