Posted by vrcvanderbilt on Friday, February 2, 2018 in Digital Humanities, Events, HART, News, Student/Alumni, Technology, VRC.

“Cass Gilbert’s Woolworth Building,” an online exhibit designed by Buchanan Library Fellow Ellen Dement focused on 150 architectural drawings of New York City’s famous building—the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 1913— that were recently acquired by the Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery. For her project Dement, HART major and 2017 Downing Grant recipient, created a website that contextualizes these drawings within the larger body of sources on the Woolworth Building.

Dement’s online exhibit was among 34 student projects, posters and presentations from across campus that were featured on January 29 at a Celebration of Learning event hosted by the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching. Students from six colleges and schools exhibited digital timelines, service learning projects, computer games, manufacturing equipment, podcasts, lab research and other products of their work.

“The goal of the event was to provide a picture of immersive student learning at Vanderbilt and to inspire instructors to engage their students not only as consumers of information, but producers of knowledge,” said Derek Bruff, director of the Center for Teaching.

More than 100 faculty, staff and students attended the event in Alumni Hall, which featured three rooms of student work: an exhibition hall with posters and projects, a digital media hall featuring podcasts and more, and a presentation hall with screenings and talks.

As a 2017 Downing Grant recipient, Dement visited Washington, DC, and New York City over the spring break to gather research for her Vanderbilt Library Fellowship project, “Visualizing Cass Gilbert’s Woolworth Building.” She visited collections on the Woolworth Building at the Library of Congress and the New York Historical Society and took a behind-the-scenes tour of the entire Woolworth Building with the building’s manager, Roy Suskin.

“This trip allowed me to find primary sources directly related to my projects that are not available online or through Vanderbilt’s library,” said Dement. “Similarly, visiting the Woolworth Building in person provided a more holistic understanding of Vanderbilt’s collection of drawings and the building’s cultural significance in the history of New York.”