THATCamp Pacific Northwest will be held on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, WA on Saturday, October 17, 2009. For more information, visit the official CFP, the schedule and location pages, or e-mail the organizers at .
What’s a THATCamp?
THATCamp stands for “The Humanities and Technology (THAT) Camp”, where “camp” indicates it’s participant-driven “unconference”—check your papers and suits at the door, and just be ready to talk about the work you’re doing, the work you want to do, how you might collaborate with others, and how you can help and be helped by a community dedicated to the intersection and integration of the humanities and technology. THATCamp was created by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. You might also know CHNM as the institution behind Zotero and Omeka. CHNM has given their blessing to this and other regional THATCamps; we are following in the footsteps of our friends at THATCamp Austin.
What’s an “unconference”?
The Wikipedia entry for “unconference” will give you a good idea what to expect. An “unconference” is “a facilitated, participant-driven conference centered around a theme or purpose.” These unconferences came up from the hacker world—see BarCamp—as a way to avoid high conference fees, sponsored presentations, and (for lack of a better term) the “fluff” that keeps people from getting down to business. Unconferences are not spectactor events, nor are they places to “be seen.” Participants are involved from the schedule creation to the wrap-up session, and actively present, discuss, and collaborate with fellow participants.
So, no suits, no papers…what do you do?
Show, tell, collaborate, share, and walk away inspired. Check out the THATCamp wiki for photos and session notes from June 2009, or read through the participant blog posts to get an idea of the types of things people discuss. NO PAPERS. No one wants to be read to. We’re looking for application demos, research & pedagogy discussions, project ideas, tutorials, questions, etc.
Who should attend?
Anyone interested in studying, supporting, teaching, researching, creating or otherwise shaping digital humanities, new media, and allied fields. You can be a professor, a programmer, a student (grad or undergrad), a librarian, an independent scholar, or any combination thereof (as many of us are). You can be an expert or a newbie; as long as you have something to talk about and things you want to learn regarding the intersection and integration of the humanities and technology, this is the place to be. The list of “who should attend” is as broad as the field of “digital humanities” itself.
How much?
Free! We will accept donations at check-in, and sponsors any time…
