In Episode 60 of Africa Past and Present, Historians Gwendolyn Midlo Hall and Walter Hawthorne discuss the Atlantic Slave Data Network — a digital history project of Matrix and the MSU History Department funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. They discuss the origins of the ASDN, intellectual and technological challenges, and the wider significance of building a freely accessible web database on the identities of enslaved people in the Atlantic World.

Africa Past and Present is hosted by Michigan State University historians Peter Alegi and Peter Limb and produced by MATRIX. Subscribe to the podcast on the Africa Past and Present website and on iTunes.

MATRIX: The Center for the Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences is seeking an experienced, creative, and talented individual to fill the position of Assistant Director.

The Assistant Director will be primarily responsible for directly overseeing MATRIX’s project infrastructure. This includes managing MATRIX’s development team (programmers, web designers, graduate assistants, and interns) as well as project development and management (including creation of deadlines for all project deliverables, project and task tracking, and reporting). In addition, the successful candidate will lead the continued development of KORA (kora.matrix.msu.edu). The successful candidate will be expected to work both independently and with MATRIX senior leadership to develop projects, identify and pursue sources of extramural funding, and publish work in appropriate venues.

The successful candidate must have significant experience with web programming, including scripting languages (JavaScript, PHP, Ruby) and with some knowledge of compiled languages (Java, C++). Ability to work in a Unix/Linux based server environment is required, and preference will be given to candidates with database, XML, and web services expertise. Strong demonstrated organizational and project management skills as well as excellent communication abilities are mandatory. A background in digital humanities, informatics, information science, computer science, library science, or cultural heritage (especially archaeology, history, classics, or museum studies) is especially desirable. Bachelor’s degree required; MA, MLS, MIS, or Ph.D. preferred.

The Assistant Director is a full-time, 12-month professional staff position at the University. Salary is commensurate with experience. The University also offers a competitive benefits package. Candidates should submit application materials through jobs.msu.edu (Job No. 5746). Review of candidates will begin immediately, and position will remain open until filled. For more information, candidates are encouraged to contact Ethan Watrall via email at watrall@msu.edu

Founded in 1996, MATRIX: The Center for the Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online is a globally renowned research center focusing on digital scholarship, the digital humanities, and cultural heritage informatics. MATRIX enjoys productive collaborations with numerous campus units, including the MSU Library, University Archives and Special Collections, the MSU Museum, The Department of Anthropology, the Department of History, African Studies Center, The WIDE Center, and The Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Beyond MSU, MATRIX has extremely strong ties with world class museums, archives, libraries, and cultural heritage institutions both nationally and internationally.

Michigan State University actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, age, gender, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, national origin, or political affiliation. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

In this episode, Layering Racial Oppression in South Africa, Jacob Dlamini, South African author, journalist, and historian, discusses his best-selling book Native Nostalgia, a memoir that challenges conventional struggle narratives.  He also talks about the social and political history of Kruger National Park and a new research project on collaborators of the apartheid security forces.

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Africa Past and Present is hosted by Michigan State University historians Peter Alegi and Peter Limb and produced by MATRIX. Subscribe to the podcast on the Africa Past and Present website and on iTunes.

The print version of Archaeology 2.0: New Approaches to Communication and Collaboration was released this week by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. Edited by Eric Kansa (Lead Developer of Open Context), and Sarah Witcher-Kansa (Executive Director of Alexandria Archive Institute), and Ethan Watrall (MATRIX Associate Director & Assistant Professor of Anthropology)the volume is the first book in the Cotsen Institute’s new Digital Archaeology Series. The book can be purchased from the David Brown Book Company. An open acces version of the book is also available at the University of California’s eScholarship repository.

The volume’s description reads:

How is the Web transforming the professional practice of archaeology? And as archaeologists accustomed to dealing with “deep time,” how can we best understand the possibilities and limitations of the Web in meeting the specialized needs of professionals in this field? These are among the many questions posed and addressed in Archaeology 2.0: New Approaches to Communication and Collaboration, edited by Eric Kansa, Sarah Whitcher Kansa, and Ethan Watrall. With contributions from a range of experts in archaeology and technology, this volume is organized around four key topics that illuminate how the revolution in communications technology reverberates across the discipline: approaches to information retrieval and information access; practical and theoretical concerns inherent in design choices for archaeology’s computing infrastructure; collaboration through the development of new technologies that connect field-based researchers and specialists within an international archaeological community; and scholarly communications issues, with an emphasis on concerns over sustainability and preservation imperatives. This book not only describes practices that attempt to mitigate some of the problems associated with the Web, such as information overload and disinformation, it also presents compelling case studies of actual digital projects—many of which are rich in structured data and multimedia content or focused on generating content from the field “in real time,” and all of which demonstrate how the Web can and is being used to transform archaeological communications into forms that are more open, inclusive, and participatory. Above all, this volume aims to share these experiences to provide useful guidance for other researchers interested in applying technology to archaeology.

MATRIX is seeking a student editorial assistant/clerk with excellent communication skills and a working knowledge of the WordPress content management system. Experience with audio editing is also desirable though not required. The position will be working on Gradhacker, a project that aims to use the web as a platform to collaboratively ‘hack’ graduate programs across institutions and disciplines. The position will also serve as a front desk clerk for MATRIX. Gradhacker.org produces posts sharing their advice and experience on a variety of topics including professional development, productivity, research, teaching, software, and wellness. Gradhacker.org will also launch a podcast and will produce three episodes each semester.

The position is for twenty hours a week at MATRIX and will divide its time equally between the two duties. For Gradhacker.org the position will edit posts, communicate with authors, manage the WordPress site, and edit the podcast. The position will also assist in using social and print media to advertise and promote Gradhacker.org. As a front desk clerk, the position will be responsible for tasks including: filing, data entry, answering phones, transcription, cleaning, and errands. The position will last the duration of the academic year. Internship credit is optional and available through WRAC.

It is critical that candidates possess initiative and enthusiasm for the Gradhaker project as well as the ability to communicate clearly and effectively. This position requires punctuality and attention to detail. Work hours will fall between 8am and 5pm on weekdays. Interested applicants should send a resume, cover letter (one page maximum), and short writing sample to Ethan Watrall (MATRIX Associate Director) at watrall@msu.edu. This position will be filled as soon as a strong applicant is found.

MATRIX is very happy to announce that GradHacker (www.gradhacker.org) will be appearing on Inside Higher Ed.  Edited by MSU grad students Alex Galarza (PhD Candidate in the Department of History and Cultural Heritage Informatics Graduate Fellow) and Katy Meyers (PhD student in te Department of Anthropology and past Cultural Heritage Informatics Graduate Fellow), GradHacker is a collaborative blog for grad students, by grad students. Their contributing authors hail from a variety of universities and disciplines. The posts aim to share experiences, identify problems and solutions, and inspire discussion about our fields and academia. They take the term ‘hacking’ beyond technology, analyzing the process of graduate school to better navigate its challenges and reach our goals. GradHacker topics are as varied as the individuals who write about them; they include parenting, pedagogy, health advice, using social media, and proposing a digital dissertation to your committee.

GradHacker began life as an idea generated by the Cultural Heritage Informatics Initiative Graduate Fellows, and has been incubated by MATRIX for the past year.  MATRIX is proud to continue its support of this innovative grad student undertaking, and look forward to new and engaging work as they move into this new phase of the project.

In Episode 58, Professor Aili Mari Tripp (Political Science, University of Wisconsin – Madison; President-elect, U.S. African Studies Association) discusses African women’s movements, democratization, and the paradoxes of power in Museveni’s Uganda. She also underscores the need for the African Studies Association to challenge the U.S. government’s draconian cuts to international education. With guest host Prof. Kiki Edozie (International Relations, Michigan State).

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Africa Past and Present is hosted by Michigan State University historians Peter Alegi and Peter Limb and produced by MATRIX. Subscribe to the podcast on our website and on iTunes.

Africa Past and Present is co-hosted by Michigan State University historians Peter Alegi and Peter Limb and produced by Matrix.

Episode 57 features African activists Eddie Daniels and Christine Root, who discuss spending a lifetime working for African liberation. Daniels work in South Africa led to his imprisonment alongside Nelson Mandela on Robben Island from 1964-1979, while Root worked in solidarity with such struggles from the U.S. as Associate Director of the Washington Office on Africa.

The African Activist Archive, a Michigan State University project cosponsored by Matrix and the African Studies Center, preserves records and memories of ordinary Americans supporting the African fight against colonialism and apartheid.

Africa Past and Present is co-hosted by Michigan State University historians Peter Alegi and Peter Limb and produced by Matrix.

Episode 56 features Dr. Gary Morgan, Michigan State University Museum Director, on African masks and the Great Dance (Gule Wamkulu) in Chewa society, Malawi. He discusses the origins and characters of Gule Wamkulu, and gender, political, educational and health aspects of masks and their future in a globalizing world. This podcast accompanies the MSU Museum exhibition on masks and the first major book on Gule Wamkulu with Claude Boucher of the Kungoni Centre of Culture and Art, Mua, Malawi.

Photo: Greya character (copyright Gary Morgan)

Matrix and the University of Kentucky Libraries’ Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History were recently awarded a National Leadership Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for ongoing development of the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS). The OHMS is a web-based system that provides word-level search capability, allowing users to search more easily for specific terms within recorded interviews, and time-correlated transcript or index to know exactly at what times in the interview these terms occur.

The project team, which also includes partner libraries at Baylor University, Oklahoma State University, and Cleveland State University, will further develop the OHMS into an open-source software tool that will be more compatible and interoperable with a variety of digital library and content management systems. The project team will also produce multimedia tutorials on the use, installation, and deployment of the OHMS tool. This tool will enable a wide variety of libraries and archives to enrich the use of digital oral history collections, inexpensively and efficiently enhancing access to and discovery of oral history online.