College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Now more than ever, students and faculty are asked to be proficient in the latest digital tools and technologies while considering how these materials may be useful to their teaching and research. Dr. Curtis will discuss her own beginnings in digital humanities exploration as a premodern historian of Japan and digital skeptic to highlight how students and mentors alike can think through the benefits and drawbacks of employing digital methods in their work. She will then survey the current state of the field in Digital Japanese Studies, highlighting recent projects, challenges, and community resources.

Respondent: James Gerien-Chen (UF Department of History)

Moderator: Matthieu Felt (UF Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures)

Featured Event Speaker: Paula R. Curtis is a historian of medieval Japan. She is presently a Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in History with the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her current book project focuses on metal caster organizations from the twelfth to sixteenth centuries and their relationships with elite institutions. She also works on the history of documentary forgery in premodern Japan. In addition, Dr. Curtis collaborates in several online projects, including the Digital Humanities Japan initiative, online databases for digital resources, employment opportunities related to East Asia, and the blog What can I do with a B.A. in Japanese Studies.