Building Community Online

Update: The CSDH-SCHN 2020 Conference starts on June 1. Here are some important links for those who are participating:

• This is our Humanities Commons Group. You can join us by creating a HC profile and follow along with discussions. This is also where you’ll find the talks/slides/papers that are going to be discussed at the conference.
• This is the Schedule. You’ll find the talks there, and also other great events like the Early Risers and Afternoon Coffee Hangouts.
• This is the Registration Page. In case you still have to do that. Join us! It’s going to be a great time!

The Canadian Society of Digital Humanities/ La Société canadienne des humanités numériques (CSDH/SCHN) is moving its 2020 conference to an online format. After polling our membership, the overwhelming sentiment was that hosting the conference online was an important way of supporting their research as well as bolstering the DH community during the pandemic. While the format of the conference will be transformed by virtue of being online, we are optimistic that we will be able to provide a supportive and engaging conference experience for all attendees.

Details and Registration

CSDH/SCHN 2020 Building Community Online will take place from June 1st to 5th, 2020. The main conference sessions will be held between the hours of 11am and 2pm EST, to account for the participation of people in provinces on Canada’s coasts. In addition, there will be time for Early Risers Hangouts and Afternoon Coffee Hangouts either side of the conference sessions. Please feel free to add your names to times you plan to be online and if you have a topic that you’d like to invite discussion on, you can list that in the schedule and invite others to join you! (Please note, only those that have registered for the conference will be able to add their names to the schedule).

As with any event, there are costs associated with running an online conference. We have worked hard to keep the costs low in order to make participation possible for all. Conference fees will cover the technical support that allows the conference to take place and for the hiring of a graduate student into a conference communications officer. Any additional funding that comes from this conference will go towards graduate student travel in future years. The rates are as follows:

*If you are not a member of CSDH but would like to become one before registering for the conference, please see our Membership page*

In addition to Eventbrite, each conference participant will be required to join Humanities Commons and the CSDH-SCHN 2020 Group in order to view the papers and join in on the discussion! Humanities Commons has many benefits, watch this space for an upcoming post with more details! 

Why should I attend?

As we all know, conferences are key to our scholarship. Digital Humanities conferences, from THATCamps to the annual international DH Conference, are how we learn from each other, make connections, and build community. There is no group for whom these experiences are more important, however, than the incoming generation of scholars: graduate students, recent grads, post-docs, and contingent faculty who are building connections of their own. These scholars inspire those of us already committed to the Canadian Digital Humanities community to keep going, to push harder, and to expand the horizons of our work. The CSDH/SCHN PC therefore looks forward to offering, in addition to the many conversations around our work, a number of opportunities for graduate students to receive mentorship and make connections with like minded scholars. This online conference, while important to all, is meant as a gathering space to support this incoming generation. Joining us for one session or for the week shows your dedication to our field and to those that will make a difference in its future.

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  T-13 hours: Building Community Online
  With less than a day to go before our annual CSDH-SCHN conference, I thought it might be good to post a short piece on what we hope comes out of this virtual event and some things that participants can do in order to help things flow smoothly.  But first, and most importantly, we wish to… Read more: T-13 hours: Building Community Online
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  DH Hangouts (early risers and afternoon coffee)
  We all know that the best part of conferences are those unexpected encounters with colleagues in the hallway or over a meal. Though CSDH is online this year, we’re hoping to provide some space for this to happen in the form of Early Risers Hangout (from 10 – 11 EST) and the Afternoon Coffee Hangout… Read more: DH Hangouts (early risers and afternoon coffee)
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  Using Humanities Commons
  A few presenters have written to the PC asking for some clarification on what to upload to Humanities Commons. This post will walk you through how to join the Humanities Commons Group, what you can post as part of the conference, and how to add these materials to Humanities Commons.* *we’d like to thank the… Read more: Using Humanities Commons
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  An Online Conference: How will this work?
  All presenters have been asked to upload a version of their talk to our own Humanities Commons Group, at least one week prior to their scheduled session. This version of the talk can take many forms: it could be a written draft of a paper, slides with notes, a video or audio recording of the… Read more: An Online Conference: How will this work?
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  Change of Venue, Change of Theme
  CSDH/SCHN takes seriously the statement made by the Black Canadian Studies Association (BCSA) that an online Congress of the Humanities would be ineffectual and inappropriate, particularly as the online format would make it impossible to properly engage Congress’s theme of Bridging Divides: Confronting Colonialism and Anti-Black Racism. The CSDH/SCHN PC agrees with their statement and… Read more: Change of Venue, Change of Theme