Project Info

What Would Whitman #hashtag

The main goal of this MURF project is to understand the role of digital/social media platforms in the experience and representation of nature. This project is currently in its second year, and we seek a student to work with an international team of environmental humanities scholars to explore the ways in which social media is used to promote closer connections to the natural world. Typically, technology is seen as anathema to the experience of nature, but our research shows that technologies such as Twitter, Instagram, iNaturalist and other platforms can foster a more detailed knowledge of nature and a greater commitment to environmental protection. In this stage of the project, we will: continue to expand a database built in the first year of funding; create visualizations of collected data; co-author a scholarly article methods in digital humanities for publication. We will also explore with the student ways to assess the images across a range of critical categories (aesthetic, ecological, geographical, etc.).
The goals of this project tie into a larger public environmental humanities project that has been previously funded by the Swedish government

This research project emerges from a web-based project: www.herbaria3.org.
For citizen science projects, see: www.zooniverse.org
For Geotagging, Instagram, and Natural spaces: Holson, Laura M. “Is Geotagging on Instagram Ruining Natural Wonders? Some Say Yes.” The New York Times. 29 November 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/travel/instagram- geotagging-environment.html
For knowledge of nature: Belkin, Douglas. “Rhododendron? Hydrangea? America Doesn’t Know Anymore.” The Wall Street Journal. 14 August 2018. <https://www.wsj.com/articles/rhododendron-hydrangea-america-doesnt-know-anymore-1534259849>
For citizen or engaged humanities: Jay, Gregory. “The Engaged Humanities: Principles and Practices for Public Scholarship and Teaching.” Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship. June 19, 2012. http://jces.ua.edu/the-engaged-humanities-principles-and-practices-for-public-scholarship-and-teaching/.

Student Preparation

Qualifications

The student should have some experience with coding, with social media platforms, and with web-based citizen science projects (as a participant is fine), and database management. Ideally, the student would have an interest in nature/environment and/or art/photography/storytelling.

Time Commitment

4-5 hours/week

Skills/Techniques Gained

The student will:
~gain coding experience and experience designing citizen science / data project;
~help shape the contours of an on-going project and gain experience working with a group to frame analytical/research questions;
~have an opportunity to work with international interdisciplinary team
~gain an ability to interpret images in social media;
~have co-authorship in eventual publication

Mentoring Plan

I will meet with the student weekly/bi-weekly depending on workload to develop work schedule and project outcomes, and to monitor progress. Monthly Skype (etc.) meetings with international team. The student will work with the team to gain experience writing and publishing research outputs. NB: We have also included an undergraduate researcher on a recently submitted NEH Collaborative Research Grant, which will support publication of this research.