Postgraduate research students

Digital Humanities (DH) students and instructors are a distinct computing learning community with a different set of perspectives, needs, and goals than those of Computer Science. The aim of my project is to develop an understanding of the nature of computing in DH and propose resources to describe and support a pedagogy tailored to this context.

Doing DH is not a question of merely applying computational tools and methods to humanities problems, but of blending the theories and epistemologies of different domains. Digital Humanists are looking to enact a paradigm of computing that is consistent with the values of humanistic inquiry. My work looks to investigate the specific nature of this ‘humanistic computing’ and develop a tailored pedagogy.

There are no existing standards or best practices for computing education in DH. Curriculum is often calqued from Computing Science with only surface level adaptation to the new context, and can tend to be very tools-focused. I posit that, in trying to move toward humanistic computing, DH students might be better served by a more abstraction-oriented curriculum that explicitly interrogates epistemic conflict and targets the development of mechanical, procedural, and rhetorical literacies.

List by: Type | Date

• Professor Quintin Cutts
• Professor Ann Gow

DH 2023 - Collaboration as Opportunity | Graz, Austria | 10-14 July, 2023

Embracing the Friction: Towards a Computationally Aware Approach to Humanistic Data Interfaces (short presentation)

Des archives aux données : bilan et perspectives du programme RCF | Paris, France | 1-3 June 2023 (co-organiser and hackathon co-ordinator)

Ne cachez pas le code : CLAIRON et une vision alternative des interfaces humanistes (presentation)

La critique dramatique dans la presse au XVIIIe siècle (work in progress presentation with Sara Harvey)

Association for Canadian and Quebec Litteratures Annual Conference | Online | 26-28 May, 2022

Feminist Literary Ecologies in Canada/ Des écologies féministes au Canada (panel with Marie Carrière, Matthew Cormier, Malou Brower, Courtney Chan, and Aamada Fayant)

Decentering Molière/Décentrer Molière | New York, USA | 14-16 April, 2022

Molière en sourdine : voix et présences des acteurs·trices à la Comédie-Française au XVIIIe siècle (presentation with Sara Harvey)

Digital Humanities Summer Institute Colloquium | Online | 14-18 June, 2021

The Comédie-Française Registers Project: Digitally Re-examining and Revitalising French Theatre History (presentation with Sara Harvey)

Courses

• COMPSCI1016 Introduction to Computational Thinking  - Tutor/Labs Coordinator (University of Glasgow)
• COMPSCI1006 Computing Fundamentals  - Tutor (University of Glasgow)
• COMPSCI1017 Further Programming - Tutor (University of Glasgow)
• COMPSCI5099 Information Visualisation - Tutor (University of Glasgow)
• COMPSCI4013 Database Systems - Tutor (University of Glasgow)
• COMPSCI4039 Programming (Conversion Master's) - Tutor (University of Glasgow)
• DH520 Python - Teaching Assistant (University of Alberta)
• CSC106 The Practice of Computer Science - Head Teaching Assistant (University of Victoria)
• CSC110 Fundamentals of Programming I - Teaching Assistant (University of Victoria)
• CSC115  Fundamentals of Programming II - Teaching Assistant (University of Victoria)

Seminars/Workshops

• School of Computing Science Tutor Training - Co-designer and Co-instructor (University of Glasgow)
• La fabrique du mythe de Molière - Co-designer and Co-instructor (Université Paris-Nanterre)
• Archives, répertoire et mises en voix - Co-instructor (Université Paris-Nanterre)

As is the case of anyone who ends up DH, I have a bit of a mixed background. I completed my Bachelor’s in Computer Science (with co-op) at the University of Victoria and my Master’s in Digital Humanities at the University of Alberta (thesis: Embracing the Friction: Towards a Computationally Aware Approach to Humanistic Data Interfaces ).

While at UVic I became involved with the Comédie-Française Registers Project (CFRP), an international DH initiative that revolves around the archives of France’s first national theatre. As part of the CFRP team, I have primarily been responsible for developing components of the project's digital environment (building data collection and visualisation tools, server management, co-creating and maintaining the website), but have also undertaken archival research. I also taught computing as a Science Venture camp and clubs instructor, and was a member and the president of UVic Women in Engineering and Computer Science.

At U of A, I was heavily involved in the First Three Years project, a longitudinal study looking at post secondary training and working conditions in the video game industry; I additionally helped to put togther a report comissioned by the ESA on the use of video games in K-12 education. 

Alongside DH computing education, I'm also interested in work relating to critically conscious computing and feminist and affective data analysis and visualisation.

Outside of academia, you’ll mostly find me dancing. Even though I’m a Canadian transplant, I’ve long been a bit of a Scot at heart; I’ve been a highland dancer for over 20 years and have learned and taught Scottish Country dance since moving to Glasgow.

If you made it this far down the page, kudos to you -- you totally deserve a cookie! Here’s a great recipe for Norwegian anise cookies or, alternatively, gluten-free no-bake chocolate oat drops :)