In August 2024 representatives from multiple online history projects, universities, and public history institutions met in London to discuss key topics in online knowledge mobilization. Over the next several months attendees will publish essays reflecting on the topics we discussed. In the meantime, here are some open-access resources that intersect with workshop content.
To the extent that we as historians accept as settled the first order questions about AI and instead opt to talk about nuanced details of implementation, I think we risk a very serious mistake. Here, then, I want to publicly state my view of AI and its use in history, and to do so without any qualification. I hate AI.
Jackson Pind and Sean Carleton Many Canadians are finally coming to terms with the truth that the Canadian government, in co-operation with Christian churches, ran a genocidal school system targeting Indigenous Peoples for more than a century. What most people do not realize, however, is that Canada’s system of “Indian education” was not limited to Indian Residential Schools. It also… Read more »
By Derek Cameron When Jim Clifford and I started archiving the Canadian conversations about COVID-19 on Twitter, it did not seem an urgent task. While Musk had made overtures to buy twitter on 13 April 2022, he had cooled by May. Similarly, we didn’t have the forethought to imagine that six months later, Musk would fire half of the 7,500-strong… Read more »
Jazmine Aldrich Anyone who has been conducting historical research (or attempting to do so) over the past two years, has likely faced challenges ranging from closed facilities to limited hours due to COVID-19. Archives, museums, historical societies, libraries and all manner of cultural heritage institutions have felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as the fog lifts and some… Read more »
Krista McCracken My work at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centrecurrently includes a Canada History Fund funded project to create education modules connected to Residential Schools and colonialism. These modules are geared toward high school aged students and will be used as part of ongoing educational programming. When I wrote the grant proposal I included the idea that the modules would… Read more »
Dominique Clément Why does historical training at universities place so little emphasis on research methods? The rise of digital humanities presents a fundamental challenge to how we train historians. But for anyone pondering a career in academia, it’s a perilous journey where the risks might not be worth the rewards. We are in the digital age yet historical research remains… Read more »
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS, June 24-25, 2021 @PMTC2021 #PandemicMethodologies Sponsored by the Canadian Historical Association (CHA) In the past year, archives and libraries have closed (either permanently or periodically), non-essential international travel has been heavily discouraged or impossible, and anyone who can has been encouraged to work from home. In these circumstances, historians have had to adapt how they do research, perhaps… Read more »
By Samantha Cutrara I like a good theme, and what better theme is there than Halloween? With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, I wanted to use it to have “spooky” conversations for my Source Saturday video series on YouTube (also available as a podcast). Source Saturday is a new video & podcast series where I talk with historians,… Read more »
Madeline Knickerbocker [1] My earliest memories of Wikipedia in an academic context relate to being told not to use it. Profs and peers viewed Wikipedia as problematic, and certainly not a legitimate source for academic work. While these critiques still endure amongst some academics today, things have also changed: a few semesters ago, I had my students write contributions to… Read more »
