News & Updates

To fail, fail, fail again

To fail, fail, fail again

We discussed this at the beginning of CHI, but what I've learned the most through this fellowship is that failing does not equal losing. Of course, that doesn't mean it doesn't cause me to get a little sad or even angry when I do fail. The biggest "fail" (if you can really call it that) for me during this fellowship was my attempt at Bootstrapping my CHI Fellows project. I did not have a lot of...

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How to Make a Web Map

In my last post I wrote about preparing to build a web map to illustrate the spatial reach of postcards featuring images of Native American Boarding Schools. Good news: the map is coming along nicely! In this post, I'll share my process for creating a web map. I'll share a few resources that helped me learn how to make a web map using Leaflet. First, check out these Leaflet tutorials. These...

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We can always do more Natural Language Semantics

In my last blog post, I discussed a few details about my current CH/DH NLP research project where I intend to investigate to what extent a corpus can be “reconstructed” using NLP techniques. Since then, I’ve done some practical work and some broader thinking. I’ll start with updates on the practical.  As my project calls for NLP analysis, I’ve set myself to learning those tools. I’ve...

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Mapping Postcards/Mapping Memory

In my last post, I wrote about what I was hoping to develop for my final project as a CHI Fellow. I planned to create a digital archive for materials associated with the historical Mt Pleasant Indian Industrial School. Instead, I will be building a web map that illustrates the spatial and temporal connections of one material type associated with the history of the Native American Boarding...

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Representation as a Bridge to Inclusivity in Art

Art Historical Cannon in America The most popular and highly sought after art museums hold a great significance to how society learns about different types of artwork. The National Gallery of Art in D.C holds the Presidential paintings, and works ranging from the Middle Ages to Western Art; The Met, NYC, is the largest museum in America and houses a large Egyptian collection; These high-profile...

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Angelica’s Project Notes Part 1 – Design

Hello again! Since my last post, I’ve been busy designing the narrative and digital infrastructure for my project titled (Un)Mapping the (Settler) Colonial Forest. In this new post, I’ll outline a few key parts about this design process. First, I’ll talk about the story part of this project. After receiving feedback on my detailed proposal (thanks to Dr. Watrall and fellow CHI fellows!), I...

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My academic career, swayed by the digital realm

I did not think much about the digital when I came to MSU. I had a personal website that I was proud of and I knew I was interested in photogrammetry as a tool to document archaeological finds. Little did I know that my interest in photogrammetry would lead me to where I am today. Photogrammetry at the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Photo: Jack Biggs During the first year of my Ph.D. program,...

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Mapping the News Cycle via StoryAtlas

The first step in creating our CHI Fellowship project is pitching our project idea to our cohort. Each of the fellows creates a project vision document, where we define our project scope, product, audiences, technology needs, and all manner of details about the project we hope to create by the end of the program. Story Atlas is still in the beginning stages, but the hope is to document its...

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Towards an NLP best practice for Cultural Heritage document organization: Reconstructing the Philosophical Papers of David Lewis

Recently, I read a very short but interesting article regarding a new project which seeks to improve the methodology for the organization, classification and examination of Cultural Heritage corpora. It is a collaboration between researchers at University of Lausanne, Harvard Houghton Library, Groningen University, and Bibliotheca Hertziana, and the goal is digitize and computationally...

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Mapping Mahaweli: writing the world from a river

During our last meeting in Fall 2023, I presented my proposal for the final project inspired by the second rapid development project in Sri Lanka. I proposed building a website called "Mapping Mahaweli" with a digital map that archives the historical milestones of the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project since 1961. The website will provide a platform for users to understand the river-based...

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