The semester is over, but the work must go on!

In February, I had big plans for my internship project. I wanted to create my own 3D models of actual 17th-century Versailles furniture with annotation points and upload these objects into a virtual reality experience. I also wanted to present my project to the faculty, with the intention of this project being picked up by an interested professor to be used in their humanities course.

Revising My Goals

Even before the pandemic, I was having panic attacks when I looked at my to-do list - there were too many things to do and I had no idea where to start! This project was too large for me to complete on my own and no one on campus could teach me the software. I tried following tutorials on Youtube and reading the Blender guide. There was too much information for me to sift through! After 3 weeks on my own, I decided to reach out to my supervisor Miriam and the new digital humanities librarian Alicia for advice via Zoom. Under normal circumstances, they said, this solo project would be almost impossible to complete within the timeframe. Alicia mentioned that 6 people worked full-time on a similar project at her previous job and it took them over a year to complete! They asked me, "which learning goal is most important to my project and how can I reach this goal by the end of the summer?" They also helped me outline a manageable timeline.

Important lessons learned from the Digital Humanities Center (DHC)

Miriam and Alicia also reminded me that I should focus more on recording the process than rushing to complete a project, "the good & the bad", as this would provide a helpful resource for faculty DHC clients. We discussed that faculty are often relunctant to try new technology in the classroom due to fear. One of the many stressors that professors may experience is that they will not be able to seamlessly navigate the technology in front of their students. This fear is exasperated because their role in the classroom is defined as the expert (i.e., they are afraid of looking "stupid" in front of their students). What might ease this fear is to provide examples of digital technology specialists experiencing struggles and setbacks when learning new tools. We need to remind the experts that the process of learning a new tool requires humility and the willingness to make mistakes. By filming my own 'highs & lows', our faculty can see that learning new digital tool can be simultaneously fun, frustrating, and rewarding: professors don't need to be experts in the software to teach it. Unlike their discipline/field where years of school & experience are required, becoming an expert in digital technology takes time and practice. More importantly, they need to learn where to search for solutions when they hit a wall in a program. Modern self-learners master their craft by searching thousands of Youtube videos and properly focusing their Google searches. Very few people woke up one morning as the master of technology!

DHC Faculty Workshop

At the end of May, the DHC is hosting a 3-day virtual faculty workshop for 12 instructors who want to include a digital project into their fall syllabi. The faculty will have one-on-one consultations with the digital humanities librarians to help choose a digital tool that will be best for their course and learning goals. The Center for Pedagogy director will work with instructors to examine their current syllabi to align their learning objectives with the digital humanities requirements. Faculty will receive personal guidance to edit their current courses so that these will be eligible for the "thinking digitally" gen-ed requirement; henceforth, these courses will attract more students who need this requirement to graduate. The DHC also wants to provide more faculty with the tools to engage their students with current technology (moving away from traditional methods such as slides and final papers). My role in the institute will include assisting the DHC librarian when she teaches the Hypothes.is workshop. My other responsibility includes produces an online map for faculty and students interesting in digging into the Columbia Library digital archival resources. There are so many electronic resources and excellent scanned primary documents, that navigating the CU system is overwhelming and often causes cognitive overload. I will create a easy-to-use map with links to these resources, as well as successful examples of digital archival projects from other institutions, so that our humanities professors can jump right into creating their own projects.

Continuing this Summer

Without access to the HTC Vive headset in the DHC, I am not able to work on the virtual reality environment from home. I decided to focus on one tool that I could easily learn from home: Blender 3D software. After one month of following two Udemy's 3D architecture design courses, I have gained confidence and now feel comfortable navigating the interface. I am continuing my work on the Versailles cabinet through May. In June, I will attempt to learn the Unity interface so that I can apply the annotations to the Versailles cabinet. Fingers crossed, if we are able to return to campus in July, I want to get back to my work on the VR equipment.

In September, I hope to present my project to the Barnard library staff and interested faculty. No matter what happens this summer with the pandemic, I will continue working on my 3D project - I'm determined to see this through!