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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences

@siueiris.bsky.social
1K followers 658 following 104 posts

The IRIS Center at SIUE is a place for students, faculty, staff, and community members to collaborate on research, teaching, and community engagement in the digital humanities. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Calling all storytellers! Emplace, a new digital publication, invites community members to contribute stories about how they build community, relationships, and a sense of place in the St. Louis region. We welcome established and emerging voices and a wide variety of formats. #stl #DigitalHumanities
Call for Community Storytellers

Emplace, a new digital publication, invites community members to contribute stories about how they build community, relationships, and a sense of place in the St. Louis region. We welcome established and emerging voices and a wide variety of formats.
Emplace centers placemaking through storytelling as a creative practice. The term emplace evokes intentionality, care, and action in relation to the work of strengthening communities through sharing local stories. Stories have the power to create change.

Stories shape who we are, how we understand the world around us, and how we imagine the future. Through storytelling, Emplace advocates for spatial justice, in which people have access to healthy living environments, equal access to resources and services, and the ability to contribute to the identity and future of their homes.

Emplace supports its contributors with developmental editing and community-based review, creating a genre of public scholarship that values the works of diverse contributors. The interactive story genres on Emplace include data visualization, video production, podcasting, mapping, graphic networks, and scrollytelling, a technique that dynamically reveals multimedia content as a reader scrolls through a narrative. 

Contributors don’t need to have technical expertise, just a story to tell. SIUE’s IRIS Center for Digital Humanities will support contributors in bringing their digital stories to life, including technical and editorial support. Contributions will be reviewed prior to publication, and accepted authors will receive honoraria of $500 per piece.

Submit a Proposal
View the full call and submit a proposal at https://emplace.siue.edu/call-for-storytellers.
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Erin A. McCarthy @erinannmcc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Possibly my favorite answer to "What is DH?" yet. 🍩
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Week 1 is always a little strange in a DH course, because students are trying to wrap their heads around what exactly DH is. And that’s fair, because today, #DigitalHumanities is transporting 2.5 dozen donuts across state lines for the @siueiris.bsky.social open house. (1 bike, 3 buses, 1 train)
The back of a bicycle, with three boxes of donuts strapped to the rackThe top of a donut box from Donut Drive-In, sitting in a metro car
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Congratulations to @megsmith.bsky.social! Last week, she received the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award from the Saint Louis University Department of History. The award recognizes all the fantastic, collaborative work in IRIS, supporting history & the humanities at SIUE and beyond! #DigitalHumanities
Meg Smith (right) stands next to Mark Ruff, chair of the history department at Saint Louis University. Meg holds a glass award.
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
More art for IRIS, courtesy of @literaturegeek.bsky.social’s @wolfproofpress.com! Critical tech, care ethics, and creative scholarship are all essential to IRIS’s ethos, and it’s so cool to see that inscribed on the space like this. #DigitalHumanities
IRIS’s welcome wall, featuring a quilted rainbow banner, a quilted public library sign, an appliqur namer that reads i-r-i-s, and two letterpress prints. One print reads “HTML is the letterpress of the digital world,” and the other features an image of a Luddite throwing something (presumably a clog), with the text “Maybe it’s just vaporware. luddites pointing out the (tech) emperor has no clothes since (well before) 1811. Luddites didn’t “fear technology.” They broke the machines that allowed the rich to enshittify livelihoods. Who’s your tech for? No tech’s adoption is inevitable (lol blockchain). Glitch their cistems.”An image of a letterpress print titled “This is a printing office.” Text:

THIS IS A PRINTING OFFICE
Like all technology: human choice, if evil or good This place is not a place of honor but it could be a place of hope
Refuge of arts, craft, community, learning, a megaphone for justice, fearless truth slipping bit rot & digital censorship; or playing at a whitewashed past; to pretend away present fascism
The center of danger is here; the center of hope is here The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours (the possibility, too From this place you may send words of justice, liberation, reparation, collective care; or serving capital, stoking hate
A press is but its printers
Friend vou stand on ground
Myou make sacred-or not
THIS is a PRINTING-OFFICE
Remixed text (in italics) from Beatrice Warde & Sandia National Laks; & new text by Amanda Wyatt Visconti, VA Ctr for the Book
FINFUSE
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Look who's gracing the pages of the Alestle this week - our very own Dr. Kristine Hildebrandt! Featuring a nice shoutout to IRIS and the need for #DigitalHumanities infrastructure www.alestlelive.com/news/article...
alestlelive.com
English chair publishes book on endangered language, earns distinguished research professor recognition
Kristine Hildebrandt, chair of the Department of English, published a book detailing an endangered language in September and was awarded status as a distinguished research professor in December.
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Congrats to our SIUE presenters at the STL #DigitalHumanities Showcase! 💿 Kezia Miller, “Beautiful Dreams of the Past: Preserving Family Histories through Textual Recovery” 💿 Mauri Johnson, Rayna Sims, & Colin Strasser, “Digital Storytelling on the Hiking Trail at Saint Stanislaus Conservation Area”
A group of seven people stand outside in front of a garden. From left to right: Dr. Jacquie Shea, Colin Strasser, Mauri Johnson, Rayna Sims, Dr. Meg Smith, Kezia Miller, and Dan SchreiberKezia Miller gestures at a slide while presenting her digital edition. The edition shows her markup schema, an example of marks up text, and two images of handwritten text demonstrating an emendation and a misspellingRayna Sims presents her digital timeline of the ecology of St. Stanislaus Conservation AreaMauro Johnson looks up at a slide while presenting his video essay on Saint Stanislaus Conservation Area. The slide offers a few images of the park and connects them to broader issues of historical interpretation
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Hey library folks! Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Lovejoy Library is hiring a tenure track digital archivist. I'm on the search committee and happy to answer questions or direct them to the search chair! Apply at apply.interfolio.com/184021. #DigitalHumanities #LibraryJobs #ArchiveJobs
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Another big congratulations to Dr. Kristine Hildebrandt! Yesterday, she received her Distinguished Research Professor award and was recognized for her tremendous accomplishments in endangered language documentation, digital and public humanities, and innovative pedagogy. We are lucky to have her!
Kristine Hildebrandt poses wearing a VERY large medal awarded for her Distinguished Research Professor rank. She is smiling in front of a lovely background of green trees.
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
The @siueiris.bsky.social glowup continues! New additions include the public library symbol for our welcome wall and some cozy tea and books for our tea corner. #DHMakes
Quilt art on a wall: a rainbow banner made of log cabin blocks, some bunting that reads “iris” on it, and a public library symbol (a person reading a book)Quilt art on a wall: a steaming mug of tea on top of a stack of books. On the desk in front of the wall is a tea kettle and some tea bags
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
IRIS now supports Manifold! Create of rich, interactive texts and facilitate reader engagement through social annotation and reading communities. It’s a great choice for OER, student projects, and public scholarship. Learn more Friday at our March Morning Bytes!
IRIS Center Morning Bytes
Introducing Manifold

Manifold is a web platform for publishing rich, interactive texts, ideal for OERs, open access research, and student projects. It facilitates engaged reading through social annotation and reading communities.
Come learn about this new IRIS-supported resource!
Friday, March 20, 10:00 AM
CFDI (Lovejoy, 2nd floor)
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Some very cool conversations unfolded across these pieces. They are all well worth the read! #DigitalHumanities
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Another contribution to @siueiris.bsky.social’s crafty makeover, courtesy of my mom! #DHMakes
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Spoiler: I think the answer is yes! #MedievalSky #skystorians #IrishHistory #DigitalHumanities
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Step 1 of @siueiris.bsky.social’s glow-up! More #DHMakes to come, including data quilts, literary craft, subversive cross stitch, and whatever else strikes our collective fancies.
A strip of homemade fabric bunting in greens and blues with the letters i-r-i-s appliquéd on the flags
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Have you checked out the @blacklitnetwork.bsky.social yet? It's got a wealth of creative tools for engaging with Black literature! Head over and check out the Literary Navigator Device to find your next read. (Give them a follow on your social media platforms while you're at it!) #DigitalHumanities
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Since I made this for freshmen, it’s light on early modern content. But here’s my guide to finding usable media for our digital humanities students. (Copied from a Wordpress site, so excuse any formatting weirdness.) docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
Finding Usable Media
Finding Usable Media Meg Smith, IRIS Center, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Digital projects let us leverage media in all kinds of interesting ways, and the internet offers us an overwhelmi...
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Another Dickinson-inspired appliqué! This one’s from her poem “To make a prairie” about intentional placemaking. It evokes ecological care, but I wanted something that blends that with human infrastructures that also manifest care. So here’s an ode to public transit! #DHMakes #PublicTransit
An appliqué block featuring two trains crossing the Eads Bridge in opposite directions. The Arch is visible out to the left side. Flowers grow along the tracks, including one clover and one bee - a reference to Emily Dickinson’s poem “To make a prairie.”Emily Dickinson 1830 - 1886
To make a prairie it takes a clover and
one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Join us for a series of workshops on teaching and researching with digital tools! The IRIS Center Morning Bytes series offers hands-on tutorials, activities and lesson plans, and spotlights on ongoing digital humanities projects. #DigitalHumanities
A flyer for a workshop series in the IRIS Center at SIUE:

Interactive Storytelling with the Scrolly Story Generator
Meg Smith and Dan Schreiber (IRIS Center)
Jan. 23, 10:00-11:00, Center for Faculty Development and Innovation (Lovejoy Library, 3rd floor)

Teaching with Leaflet Storymaps
Laura Fowler (History)
Feb. 13, 10:00-11:00, Center for Faculty Development and Innovation

Digital Publishing with Manifold
Meg Smith and Dan Schreiber (IRIS Center)
Mar. 20, 10:00-11:00, Center for Faculty Development and Innovation

“Beautiful Dreams of the Past”: Building a Digital Edition
Kezia Miller (English)
Apr. 17, 10:00-11:00, Center for Faculty Development and Innovation
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
🤩 Thanks again to @literaturegeek.bsky.social for immortalizing this line from the NEH wake session at ACH. If I have a scholarly motto, this is it — infrastructure is mutual obligation and mutual benefit. #DigitalHumanities #DHMakes
A framed print that reads “Infrastructure is something we owe to one another. - Meg Smith” Made by Amanda Wyatt Visconti! It’s printed in a beautiful pink-blue gradient.
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Congratulations to Prof. Maurina Aranda on receiving the Paul Simon Outstanding Teacher-Scholar Award! Maurina is an integral member of the CODES team and developed the Community-Engaged Science course. We’re grateful for her creative pedagogy, wide knowledge, and thoughtful collaboration!
siue.edu
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
ICYMI: Check out this @jitp.bsky.social article for assignments and activities that use small data sets to engage students with critical data literacies and place-based research. These are quick bloom-and-fade activities that are easy to build into a syllabus! #DigitalHumanities
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Already watched Knives Out and jonesing for more murder, hellfire and brimstone, and possible revenants? Well! 125 years ago today, William Le Queux published "The Mystery of Montmartre" in @stltoday.com. I threw together a little edition for the Christmas ghost story crowd. #DigitalHumanities
msmith0913.github.io
The Mystery of Montmartre
Ghost stories were a mainstay of holiday entertainment at the turn of the 20th century. This tale, written by William Le Queux and published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on December 23, 1900, sets a...
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
It’s publication day! Check out this new piece from @megsmith.bsky.social and Laura Milsk Fowler on #DigitalHumanities pedagogy. Meg and Laura offer bite-sized but powerful classroom activities that teach humanistic approaches to data and build tech skills and confidence to tackle larger projects.
cuny.manifoldapp.org
Small Data for Maximal Effect: Integrating Digital Humanities, Digital Ethics, and Pedagogy across a College Curriculum | Small Data for Maximal Effect: Integrating Digital Humanities, Digital Ethics,...
by Margaret K. Smith and Laura Milsk Fowler
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
🎉🎉 Huge congrats to IRIS co-founder Dr. Kristine Hildebrandt on being named Distinguished Research Professor of English! The award recognizes her significant achievements in the field of linguistics & her many contritions to research, mentorship, and DH infrastructure at SIUE and beyond.
siue.edu
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
What is #DigitalHumanities? A little bit of this, a little bit of that
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
It has been an incredible whirlwind of a semester! Over the last four months: ✏️ We conducted over 50 class visits to teach digital humanities skills. (More than a whole course's worth of classroom time!) 📒 And oh yeah, we also ran a new course this semester on digital curation and storytelling! 1/
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
CFP alert! If you're working on digitization, replicas and reproductions, living history practices, or other forms of surrogate sources, we'd love to see a proposal for organized sessions at the 2026 Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies. #DigitalHumanities #LivingHistory #CFP #MedievalSky
Call for Papers
13th Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies
8-10 June 2026
Saint Louis University

Representing the Past: Material and Digital Surrogates in the Practice of History
Organizers: Thomas Morin, Saint Louis University, and Margaret Smith, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Increasing reliance on surrogates has transformed historians' avenues for inquiry and methodologies for interpreting information. The creation of digital surrogates has increased access to historical materials, but also raises questions about representation, conservation, and democratization. Parallel to these developments, the production of physical replicas of historical objects has also expanded immensely in the last several decades, bringing with it new teaching tools and research aids. But the production of these material surrogates has also heightened the tensions between access and authenticity. These replicas, both in the physical and digital spheres, have opened new paths and discussions about how scholars engage with history both academically and pedagogically, and in public spaces.
 
These sessions invite papers that explore the creation, use, and interpretation of surrogates in historical practice. How do digital and material surrogates mediate the relationship between researchers, objects, and audiences? How do they complement or challenge one another as forms of preservation and interpretation? We welcome contributions that address the processes of surrogate creation, the theoretical and ethical dimensions of representation, and the role of surrogates in pedagogy, public history, and digital humanities.
 
By bringing together scholars working across media, these panels seek to create dialogue on how historical knowledge is shaped through acts of reproduction, translation, and substitution.

Prospective presenters should email their 100-200 word proposals to either thomas.morin@slu.edu or margars@siue.edu by 15 December 2025.
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
It's #GivingTuesday! Every dollar that comes into IRIS goes back out into community-engaged research, digital pedagogy, and #DigitalHumanities infrastructure. Throughout the day, we'll share some of the ways that your giving helps us support our communities. You can give to IRIS through fund 4332.
connect.siue.edu
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville - SIUE Connect
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
This Friday! Join us for our next Morning Bytes, where Dr. Jill Anderson (English) will present on her work producing a biographical chronology for the Catharine Maria Sedgwick Online Letters project. #DigitalHumanities @mhs1791.bsky.social
IRIS Center
Morning Bytes
Jill Anderson, Ph.D.
Department of English
Friday, Nov. 14 10:00-11:00 AM
IRIS Center (Peck 2226)
Grappling with Contexts for an Archive of 19th-Century
Letters
In this Morning Bytes, Dr. Jill Anderson (English) will present her Spring 2025 sabbatical project, a series of contributions to the Catharine Maria Sedgwick Online Letters project contained within the Primary Source Cooperative at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The presentation will include a brief introduction to this influential early American writer and a discussion of Anderson's process in producing a biographical chronology connecting Sedgwick's early letters with 19th-century historical and personal contexts.
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
This Wednesday! @hrambsy.bsky.social will share his work on the Black Lit Network, a #DigitalHumanities project that brings scholarship on African American literary studies to public audiences and provides innovative discovery tools that link people to books based on their interests.
Poster for a lecture co-sponsored by African American Literary Studies, the IRIS Center, and the Black Lit Network

Dr. Howard Rambsy
"The Literary Navigator: Curation and Discovery on the Black Literature Network"
Wednesday, October 29, 11:00 AM
Redmond Center classroom, Lovejoy Library 2nd floor
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
We’ll happily take donations from non-SIUE folks too, and although I can’t promise a university pennant, I do have some snazzy stickers I’d be happy to mail!
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
📣Calling all SIUE faculty and staff📣 Join the SIUE Faculty and Staff Fundraising Campaign and make a direct impact on the programs and projects that inspire you most. If that inspiration includes digital humanities, experiential learning, and community-engaged pedagogy, keep reading!
A banner for an SIUE Foundation campaign targeting faculty and staff with the slogan “It’s a Cougar Thing, We Give Back”
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
What’s medieval armor doing in a #DigitalHumanities class? Opening up questions about the role of surrogate sources! We often talk about the affordances of digital surrogates: gains like access and linked data, as well as limits like the inability to convey material, multisensory knowledge.
A student looks toward the camera smiling, wearing leather and metal armor on his arm and hand. Behind him, the screen displays two manuscripts with references to 14th century Genoese coyracies (or cuirasses).
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
Take a listen to @hrambsy.bsky.social’s interview about the Black Lit Network on @stlpublicradio.bsky.social! From the barbershop to the classroom, it’s a project deeply rooted in a genuinely public humanities. When you’re done, visit www.blacklitnetwork.org and try it out! #DigitalHumanities
npr.org
How book recommendations at a barbershop led to an online network to find Black literature : St. Louis on the Air
Inspired by barbershop chats and a brotherly contest over hip-hop facts, the Black Lit Network is a digital resource designed to make African American literature more widely accessible. Southern Illin...
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Check out these ideas for critical approaches to AI in humanities classrooms! #DigitalHumanities
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Just a day in the life of a digital humanities center #DigitalHumanities #DHBreaks
A screenshot from an email. It reads:

"Hey Meg,

This is ready for you to break:"
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
You know what regalia needs? Pockets. IRIS can help, and in return, you can help IRIS! Learn to add them yourself or have us do it for you for a suggested donation of $25. Sign up at iris.siue.edu/pockets. Space is limited! #DHMakes
A flyer for an IRIS donation drive. Text:

THANKS, IT HAS POCKETS
IRIS CENTER DONATION DRIVE:
ADD POCKETS TO YOUR REGALIA

Learn to DIY Inseam Pockets
IRIS Center (Peck 2226) 
August 11, 1:30-3:00 

Get Pockets Added for You
Drop off: IRIS, Aug 6-12 
Pickup: IRIS, Aug 13-15

SUGGESTED DONATION: $25
SIGN UP AT HTTPS:/ /IRIS.SIUE.EDU/POCKETS
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Congratulations to @hrambsy.bsky.social and his collaborators on the award of a new grant to support the Black Lit Network! The Black Lit Network uses data viz and digital storytelling to provide new entry points into the study of African American literature. bit.ly/bln-mellon #DigitalHumanities
bit.ly
SIUE Awarded $1.6M Grant from Mellon Foundation to Support Public Knowledge Digital Project on African American Literary Studies, Jointly Headed by SIUE’s Dr. Howard Rambsy
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Ope, it’s syllabus season. Join us for an in-person workshop on how to incorporate meaningful digital assignments and activities into your course, in ways that both enhance students’ engagement with the course content and encourage them to think critically about technology. #DigitalHumanities
A flyer for a workshop, “Crafting a Digital Humanities Assignment,” which will take place in the IRIS Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on July 30 from 11:00-12:00. The flyer features cartoonish images of a laptop, megaphone, magnifying glass, and other objects.
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
I’m super excited for this one! It combines some of my favorite things: minimal computing, critical data studies, spatial justice, and free and approachable DH pedagogy. If you can’t make this one, keep an eye out for future events! #DigitalHumanities
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
This Wednesday, join us at the Wedge in Alton to chat about data representation, learn some spreadsheet and mapping technologies, and share your experiences of the Metro East as a cultural center. Free and no experience needed! July 16, 3:00-4:30 #DigitalHumanities #STL #StLouis #MetroEast
The SIU System Office of Community Engagement

Putting Ourselves on the Map: Data, Bias, and the Stories We Tell 

Learn how everyday tools like maps and spreadsheets shape public memory-and take part in telling your own story

The Wedge
620 E Broadway, Alton, IL
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Free and Open to the Public

The July Community Collaboration Lab, co-hosted with the SIUE IRIS Center, will explore how data shapes what we see, who gets represented, and how communities like the Metro East are too often left out of digital spaces. Dr. Meg Smith, Interim Director of the IRIS Center, will lead participants through real-world examples of data bias and introduce digital storytelling as a powerful tool for reclaiming narrative control. As part of the session, attendees will contribute their own stories and insights to a collaborative community map that highlights the Metro East as a vibrant cultural space. The map will remain open for future Lab participants to build on, creating an evolving record of local knowledge, identity, and place.

For more Information, contact Dr. Connie Frey-Spurlock at connie.freyspurlock@slu.edu
https://siusystem.edu/community-engagement/
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Today's AI Fictions Reading Group discussed @mdoriarussell.bsky.social's The Sparrow. It might seem like an unusual choice since AI quickly recedes to the background, but its extractive, venture capitalist vision of AI ca 2019 is an apt indictment of our present moment. #DigitalHumanities
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IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences @siueiris.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
A summer day in IRIS looks like... 💻web development 💡 teaching consultations 🧮building tools for assessment 🗺️map-making ☀️surviving the St. Louis heat (barely) #DigitalHumanities
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
I made a map for tracking how much of the city I've visited by various modes. I'll keep adding datasets over time, but for now it contains city parks and bus routes. If you also like to track things, feel free to fork and reuse! msmith0913.github.io/stl-sandbox/ #stl #StLouis #DigitalHumanities
msmith0913.github.io
St. Louis Sandbox
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Even if we were to achieve the pipe dream of universal digitization, you cannot account for archival silences without building human relationships grounded in mutual trust, care, and a commitment to repair.
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
I finally read that awful NYT AI history piece, and I will add one note to The Discourse. As many have noted, LLMs are limited to what’s been digitized, a tiny fraction of what’s in the archives. But especially egregious: the book being written in that piece is an indigenous history.
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Hey Metro East! Come chat about data representation, learn some spreadsheet and mapping technologies, and share your experiences of the Metro East as a cultural center. Join us at the Wedge in Alton on July 16. Free and no experience needed! #DigitalHumanities #STL #StLouis #MetroEast
The SIU System
Office of Community Engagement
Putting Ourselves on the Map:
Data, Bias, and the Stories We Tell Learn how everyday tools like maps and spreadsheets shape public memory-and take part in telling your own story
The Wedge
620 E Broadway, Alton, IL
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Free and Open to the Public
The July Community Collaboration Lab, co-hosted with the SIUE IRIS Center, will explore how data shapes what we see, who gets represented, and how communities like the Metro East are too often left out of digital spaces. Dr. Meg Smith, Interim Director of the IRIS Center, will lead participants through real-world examples of data bias and introduce digital storytelling as a powerful tool for reclaiming narrative control. As part of the session, attendees will contribute their own stories and insights to a collaborative community map that highlights the Metro East as a vibrant cultural space. The map will remain open for future Lab participants to build on, creating an evolving record of local knowledge, identity, and place.
Southern Illinois University System
OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
IRIS
For more Information,
contact Dr. Connie Frey-Spurlock at connie.freyspurlock@slu.edu
https://siusystem.edu/community-engagement/
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Reposted by IRIS Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences
pam lach @plach.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
@megsmith.bsky.social reminds us that infrastructure is a mutual obligation and a mutual aid #ACH2025
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