Events

Past Events

Digital Archives, Mapping, and Higher Education

Oct. 8, 2021, 8:45am – 1:00pm

All sessions will be held over zoom and are open to all graduate students and faculty/staff of Fisk University, Berea College, Tennessee State University, Tougaloo College, and Vanderbilt University.

View the agenda and list of speakers.

Time	Topic
8:45 a.m.	Opening Remarks
9 a.m.	Dr. Jesse Montgomery, Berea College Sounding the Archives: Access and Community in the Hutchins Library Traditional Music Collection
9:30 a.m.	Dr. Emma Banks, Tennessee State University Community Collaboration through COVID-19: The Afro Guajiro Archive
10 a.m.	Dr. Deann Armstrong Trakus, Tougaloo College Textual Healing: The Humanities, Intergenerational Trauma, and Self-Care
10:30 a.m.	Dr. Magana Kabugi, Fisk University "The Nature of Our Enterprise": Walter J. Leonard and the Challenge of Black Higher Education, 1977-1984
11 a.m.	Dr. Tiago Fernandes Maranhão, Tougaloo College with Maria Paula Andrade, Vanderbilt University The Transatlantic Bodies Project: Mapping Diseases and Medical Knowledge in Brazil
11:30 a.m.	Dr. Jason Smith, Tougaloo College Tricking Students into Synthesis: Using StoryMaps as Cumulative Projects
12 p.m.	Q&A and Discussion

RSVP to Angela.C.Sutton@vanderbilt.edu.

Early Career Scholars, Academic Publishing, and Navigating Job Markets in Uncertain Times

March 12, 2021, 9:00am – 2:00pm

Please email Angela.C.Sutton@vanderbilt.edu for the registration links.

Time	Topic
9:00am – 10:00am	Early Career Scholars and Academic Journal Articles Join Vanderbilt Professors William Luis, editor of the Afro-Hispanic Review, and Scott Akin, editor of Thinking About Logic as they share pitfalls, tips, and insights to academic publishing for early career scholars. Bring your questions for the Q&A.
10:00am – 11:00am	Mellon Postdoc check-in with Bonnie Dow and Angela Sutton
11:00am – 12:30pm	Panel Discussion: Teaching with a Humanities PhD outside the University Setting Laura Strombergsson, Learning Experience Designer and eLearning Developer, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (Comparative Media Analysis & Practice & German Studies PhD) Elizabeth Weber Edwards, Human Resources Coordinator and Chair of World Languages, Well-Trained Mind Academy (German Language and Literature PhD) Adam Wilsman, Assistant Dean of Academic Advising and US Social Sciences Teacher*, Harpeth Hall Independent Private School (History PhD)
1:00pm – 2:00pm	Workshop: Transferable Skills and the Job Search for Humanities Students & Scholars Kayla Smith, Senior Career Coach, Vanderbilt University Career Center

Mellon Partners for Humanities Education Workshop: Pandemic Pedagogy for Postdoctoral Fellows

September 25, 2020
(All events held on Zoom)

12:00pm – 1:30pm Writing Pedagogy Workshop

The following workshop is designed to give participants the opportunity to consider, discuss, and develop ideas and materials for writing-based courses while taking particular account of challenges presented by current COVID-related teaching and learning situations at partner institutions. The workshop will run 90 minutes. See facilitators for pre-workshop required readings.

Participants should bring the following teaching materials to the workshop:

Their current syllabus or a draft of their Spring 2021 syllabus
A writing assignment they wish to redesign or approach differently and the associated grading rubric, if applicable

Dr. Megan Minarich, Assistant Director of the Vanderbilt Writing Studio (and former Mellon Partners for Humanities Education Fellow – TSU), will begin the workshop with an examination of the principles of backward design, the identification of learning goals for participants’ current and/or upcoming courses, and the importance of fostering ongoing conversations about writing with students. From there, participants will identify present challenges facing their students as students work to achieve the identified learning goals. We will then explore alternative writing assignment designs, such as shorter assignments, segmented assignments, and lower-tech or alternative-tech assignments, which participants can employ to work with and around current teaching and learning challenges at their institutions. Participants will have time to begin developing or redesigning a writing assignment and receive feedback from fellow participants.

1:30pm-2:30pm Check in with Bonnie Dow & Angela Sutton

This check in will provide an opportunity to discuss your teaching, research, and digital humanities projects, as well as your goals & expectations for next semester. We want to know how you’re doing, and how the program can better support you in your role as fellow during these unprecedented times.

2:30pm-3:00pm Break

3:00pm – 5:00pm Pandemic Pedagogy Workshop with the CFT

Dr. Heather Fedesco and Dr. Joe Bandy, Assistant Directors of the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching, will join us to lead discussion in the personal and professional challenges fellows are confronting while teaching at our various partner institutions during the pandemic. We will discuss ways in which institutions can support fellows and students at this time, and adjustments educators can make to meet the various challenges in order to shape their inclusive teaching environments. There will be a small break in the middle of this session.

Mellon Partners for Humanities Education Workshop: Teaching Writing, Student Feedback, and the Collaborative Humanities

March 20-21, 2020
Bennie Thompson Hall, Tougaloo College, Jackson, Mississippi

March 20, 2020

9:00-12:30: A series of three 60-minute workshops on Writing Assignments in Undergraduate Humanities Education, facilitated by Dr. Megan Minarich, Vanderbilt University Assistant Director, Writing Studio & Tutoring Services. There will be a break in the middle of the second session.

Workshop 1: Scaffolding Writing Across the Semester
Participants will learn how to use backward design to scaffold writing projects and assignments throughout the semester. We will also begin to create or redesign syllabi for courses with writing components. Participants may bring pre-existing syllabi they wish to revise, or they may choose to use workshop time to develop new materials. *Completion of pre-workshop readings is recommended but not required.

Workshop 2: Designing Writing Assignments and Grading Rubrics
Participants will be provided with examples of different types of writing assignments and rubrics before using their scaffolded syllabi and identified student learning goals to create or redesign a writing assignment and its associated grading rubric. Participants may bring pre-existing assignments and/or rubrics they wish to revise, or they may choose to use workshop time to develop new materials.

Workshop 3: Responding to Student Writing
In this workshop, participants will explore some best practices for responding to their students’ writing. We will discuss effective and generative ways of providing feedback in-person through conferences as well as through written feedback. *Completion of pre-workshop readings is recommended but not required.

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch will be provided for all participants
Lunch will be catered through Tougaloo Campus with Thompson Hospitality. Vegetarian options will be provided.

1:30 – 2:30 Presentations from Tougaloo Faculty Mellon Partners Collaboration Grant winners:
Textual Healing- Drs. Ebony Lumumba & Deann Armstrong-Trakus
Black at Brown- Dr. Phoenix Savage
The Daniel Hand Archive – Drs. Sharon Streeter and Thea Black

2:30-3:00 Break

3:00 – 5:00 Digital Humanities Troubleshooting Session with Dr. Mickey Casad, Associate Director of the Vanderbilt University Digital Humanities Center

This time is set aside for postdoctoral fellows to confer with Mickey and one another to troubleshoot their digital humanities work. Bring your laptop and questions and the ten of us will brainstorm solutions and ideas for one another’s projects. Mickey will also make herself available for follow-up meetings via Skype in the weeks following the workshop for those who would like some one-on-one time.

Mellon Partners for Humanities Education Workshops:
Teaching Underserved Populations and Developing Digital Humanities Projects at Teaching-Focused Institutions October 4, 2020 | Vanderbilt Center for Digital Humanities, 344 Buttrick Hall

Building on the popularity of the 2018 Conference, this event is for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the humanities considering academic jobs at institutions that serve a wide variety of diverse populations. No previous participation or experience is required. Both workshops will include a break.

9:00-9:30 Welcome remarks from Dean Bonnie Dow, Coffee & Pastries

9:30-noon Teaching Underserved Populations

Heather Fedesco, Assistant Director of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching

Raquelle Bostow, Fisk University Postdoctoral Fellow

Dorothy Chappell Dean, Berea College Postdoctoral Fellow

Jenifer Dodd, Tennessee State University Postdoctoral Fellow

A panel of Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows from Fisk University, Tennessee State University, and Berea College, guided by the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching’s Assistant Director, Heather Fedesco, will address teaching at institutions with limited funding that serve large numbers of students from minority groups. The panel will address the institutional cultures of smaller mission-driven liberal arts colleges, large public institutions, and Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), and share skills learned both through the latest pedagogical research and in their first years of teaching.

Noon – 1pm Lunch (provided to all registered attendees)

1pm-4pm Developing Digital Humanities Projects at Teaching-Focused Institutions

Mickey Casad, Executive Director of the Vanderbilt Digital Humanities Center
This workshop will discuss ways in which to carry out digital humanities research projects at institutions with a heavy teaching focus. It will cover how to assess and fairly make use of an institution’s existing infrastructure, how to make sustainable contributions to your host institution, and how to include students in your research. A portion of this workshop will be devoted to helping attendees troubleshoot their digital humanities projects in progress, and so will cover DH basics such as digitization projects, curation programs like OMEKA, data visualizations, and digital pedagogy.

Mellon Partners Symposium on Digital Humanities Research and Teaching

Friday, March 29, 2019, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Berea College, Berea, KY

This one-day symposium is for faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students who are interested in opportunities for collaboration and networking with scholars at institutions belonging to the Mellon Partners for Education consortium. This workshop is comprised of events geared toward Digital Humanities and teaching at the Mellon Partners institutions, which include Berea College, Fisk University, Tennessee State University, and Tougaloo College. Each panel is put together with an eye toward familiarizing participants with teaching and digital humanities opportunities within the partner institutions, with plenty of built-in networking time. In particular, this symposium is also designed to introduce participants to the unique resources of Berea College, including their special collections on the history of Appalachia.

Schedule:

9:00	Opening Remarks with Dean Bonnie Dow (Vanderbilt University) and Academic Vice President Chad Berry (Berea College)
9:15 – 10:45	Session 1: Digital Humanities Skillshare for Digital Projects
11:00-12:30	Session 2: Panel on Teaching at the Mellon Partner Institutions
12:30-1:30	Lunch
1:30 – 3:00	Session 3: Walking Tour of Berea College & Introduction to Special Collections
3:15- 4:45	Session 4: Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow Presentations on Digital Projects
5:00	Networking Reception

Mellon Partners for Education Conference on Humanities Teaching for Underserved Populations
Thursday October 11, 2018, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Vanderbilt Center for Digital Humanities, 344 Buttrick Hall

This event is for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the humanities considering academic jobs at institutions which serve a wide variety of diverse populations. It will address teaching approaches, curriculum planning, institutional culture, and Digital Humanities research at various types of institutions that cater to underserved student populations. Mellon Partners for Education Postdoctoral fellows and their faculty mentors from Fisk, TSU, and Berea College will be in attendance to offer firsthand accounts and perspectives on what this career path looks like.