About BUDSC
In the 2023-24 Academic Year, we tried some new things with #BUDSC. We hosted a series of virtual speaker events, and smaller working group sessions focused on developing a regional intercollegiate community of practice with colleagues at liberal arts universities in the Middle Atlantic states. Our plans for a Spring 2024 in-person event failed to come to fruition, but the idea of an in-person gathering persisted.
For 2024 -2025, we’re going to put what we learned into practice – we’re going to take what worked and continue our virtual Bucknell University Digital Scholarship Conversations, and revive an in-person conference in partnership with KeystoneDH. Our theme? “Linking: Projects, Data, & People”
More information will be forthcoming throughout Autumn 2024. We’re excited to continue this work together!
Fall 2024 Virtual Speakers
Joshua MacFadyen
Title: From Big Data to Dirt Research: Mapping Canadian Energy Transitions in City, Field, and Forest.
Date: November 13, 2024, 12 noon eastern
Abstract:
From prairie wheat kings to log-waltzing timber drivers, Canadians evoke a sense of working with the natural world. For most of Canadian history, its primary sector operated in what economist E. A. Wrigley called the “solar regime” of energy history, limited by the biomass that plants and animals could convert from the sun’s energy. The transition from biomass to fossil fuels was universal, but in Canada it was surprisingly slow, and historians know relatively little about it. This paper presents some of the digital methods being used to mine data and examine transitions in UPEI’s GeoREACH Lab (for Geospatial Research in Atlantic Canadian History). Using historical Geographic Information Systems (HGIS), as well as census data development, students have helped to digitize maps and manuscripts with a focus on the period of the energy transition (circa 1870-1970). The approaches range from automated polygon recognition on historical maps, to oral interviews and online participatory mapping. Other projects have focused on data development to study the energy transition in cities in Ontario and in agroecosystems across Canada.
Short bio:
Josh is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Geospatial Humanities at the University of Prince Edward Island. His research focuses on energy transitions and traditional energy carriers in Canada, and he leads the GeoREACH lab at UPEI which supports Geospatial Research in Atlantic Canadian History. His first monograph, Flax Americana: A History of the Fibre and Oil that Covered a Continent, was published by McGill-Queens University Press; his most recent monograph is Time Flies: A History of Prince Edward Island from the Air, a book that examines land use change on PEI using aerial photographs.
Bucknell University
Library & Information Technology
With over 3600 Undergraduate students, Bucknell University is a national university where liberal arts and professional programs complement each other. Library & Information Technology at Bucknell University is proud to host #BUDSC24.
Safety and Inclusion
Creating safe spaces in Digital Scholarship for everyone.
BUDSC is committed to providing an environment where all participants feel safe, included, and comfortable at the conference.
