Feature: The Fordham Graduate Digital Humanities Group

Good morning, happy Friday to you.
    As a blogger for the GSAS, and as a professor of an on-line English course this semester for the PCS, I have been especially aware and appreciative of how the digital age has been dynamically changing and influencing the institutions of higher education and graduate programs worldwide. In the spirit of this digital renaissance, I would like to introduce this blog's readers to the Fordham Graduate Digital Humanities Group. Officially recognized by the GSA as a Working Group, anyone in the GSAS can participate and benefit from the great work that this group does for the university!
   The GDH meets twice per month to learn and sustain a conversation about the development of digital technologies in the humanities disciplines. (Check out the Schedule page for info about future meetings and events!) The group focuses on graduate studies and professionalization issues, which is of particular interest to me personally and most Grad.Life blog readers! As the GDH's Wordpress blog says, "This group should be of special interest to students who are preparing for a professional academic career in the humanities, a career that most likely witll require digital fluency in regards to teaching, research, and publishing." This past week, the group led a workshop on digital pedagogy and discussed everything from practical issues (eg, paperless teaching, digital classroom tools) to the theoretical idea of defining the concept of "digital pedagogy." 
   Coming up for the group is a workshop open to all GSAS students entitled "You Online: Developing Your Online Academic Presence," to be held on November 7th, 2012. It will be led by Michael Mandiberg in the Flom Auditorium in the Walsh Library. The half-day event should prove to be extremely beneficial in giving GSAS students practical tools, ideas, and resources to help establish their on-line academic profiles and presences. (See this blog's post on the same topic from last semester!) 
   There's also a CFP sponsored by the GDH for the Fordham Graduate English Association Interdisciplinary Conference in March 2013. The conference is entitled "Remembering, Forgetting, Imagining: The Practices of Memory," and the GDH's CFP provokes a fascinating cross-discipline question:  "Do digital platforms change the way we remember?" Already just from this one question, I find myself excited to attend this conference and this panel presentation -- and it may become a future topic for a post on Grad.Life! For now, check out the full CFP for details about the topic and format, because the deadline in November 15 -- you have plenty of time to get some ideas together and submit an abstract! (Upcoming post on this blog will also feature more about this wonderful interdisciplinary grad conference -- watch for more info or click on the link above to the conference homepage in the meantime!)
   Make sure to check out the group's blog and Facebook page (click "Like") for more information on this important and dynamic organization in the GSAS! 
   (While you are on FB, visit Grad.Life's page and click "like," too!)
   Until next time, Liza 

Is Email Old School?

Hello GSAS students and Grad.Life readers!
      The fall 2012 semester is underway, hints of fall weather are sneaking into the New York City air, and I am slowly falling into step with the subject of my newest dissertation chapter -- Grad.Life is good! I hope everyone feel the same and has been enjoying new classes, coursework, and research projects.
     This year, I hope to see the Grad.Life blog grow even more than it did last semester. The idea of having a GSAS blog that serves to jumpstart conversations and to convey information seems to be in line with what colleges & universities are doing all over the world -- using various web-based media in order to reach out to and connect with their student bodies. In fact, I just read an article in The Chronicle about the ways colleges and universities are beginning to diversify their methods of communicating with students, moving from email based communication towards a multi-pronged approach that incorporates Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. According to the article, email is becoming too antiquated for the current generation of college students.

This. makes. me. feel. old. 

    I, personally, rely on email for almost everything I do. I email myself to-do lists, shopping lists, and schedules; I backup personal and school related files on gmail; I search my inbox for pertinent information such as room numbers, meeting times, friend's addresses and phone numbers. I link myself to articles, recipes, products, stores, and menus. My Gmail account is a treasure trove of information, and I interact with it all day long, in these varied ways.
   Of course, I get a lot of use out of FB as well, mostly for social interaction between friends, family, and colleagues, and also turning to FB for information for certain events and announcements. Twitter is something I reserve for entertainment and good laughs. But email is still my primary source of information -- which includes both incoming, new information as well as stored info from the recent past. 
   Am I outdated?? Is email "OLD SCHOOL"? What about blogs? Suddenly after reading this article, they seem sort of 2004 to me -- should I be pinning my thoughts for the GSAS instead of blogging them?  Maybe some of the new GSAS students can help me out and share thoughts? Or maybe do some readers from my GSAS "generation" want to weigh in? You can use more than 140 characters in your response. :P
   Until next time -- enjoy the beautiful NYC weather -- Liza Z.