I learned a lot from our first week of class discussions. I think one of the most interesting things that stuck out to me was the Radiophone Dance in 1920 because I always heard of Silent Disco, but knowing that the general idea of that goes all the way back to the 20’s was very interesting to me. Another thing that was really interesting to me was people’s amazement at the very first Mac computer. The reaction people had to something so simple was insane. Looking at the old Mac gave me a bit anxiety because I feel like I wouldn’t know how to use it compared to what Macs are currently. Nowadays, Macs are so easy to use vs. the way computers used to be. I never knew about all the commands people had to put into their computers to make it do specific tasks. I must say I am very relieved those coding/commands don’t exist anymore. Comparing digital technology back then to what it is today is mind blowing. I’m sure the people alive in the 20’s would have never dreamed of something such as “facebook” or “twitter” to take over their lives. I really hope to learn more about social media’s role with digital humanities along with cell phones such as iPhones. There’s so much to discuss when it comes to the cellphone, especially iPhones and Samsungs, etc. Learning how apps came to be would also be something I hope to learn this semester as well.
My project I was assigned was “Virtual St. Paul’s Cross Project” by NC State University. It will allow people to experience events that happened in London during the early seventeenth century. As of now, there’s only one phase completed for the project, which allows people to hear John Donne’s sermon for Gunpowder Day on November 5th, 1622 in the courtyard of St. Paul. The main goal behind this project is to show people how preaching used to be in London during the seventeenth century. As described by NC State, this project is”enabling us to experience a Paul’s Cross sermon as a performance, as an event unfolding in real time in the context of an interactive and collaborative occasion”.
The project was created by using architectural modeling software and acoustic simulation software, two kinds of software I’ve never heard of. Using Miriam Posner’s framework of sources, the way it’s processed, and presented, I was able to identify that the main sources of this project was using pictures from the seventeenth century of St. Paul’s Cathedral and also looking at the old documents of the specific sermons/events that happened there. The way this project was processed was it was very organized because of the many sections the website had along with many explanations. Finally, the project was presented by being web-accessible along with maps. My thoughts on this project is I think it’s an excellent way to engage people in history especially with the very interactive/realistic tools.
Works Cited:
“Virtual Paul’s Cross Website.” Virtual Pauls Cross Website, vpcp.chass.ncsu.edu/. Date Accessed, 3rd September 2019.
Posner, Miriam. “ How did they make that?” Miriam Posner’s Blog.Wordpress. Date Accessed, 3rd September 2019.
Hey Christina! I too would be very perterbed to use an old mac. Computers now a days are hard enough to use. Personally I too find it fascinating how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time. This beggs the question as to where we’ll be in another 50 years?
The premise of this project is so fascinating, and the way that they formatted the documents for digital presentation is a really interesting way to utilize these documents since so many times things like these would have just been presented in a text format. Discussing the political use of religion is also telling and useful in any time and space, and that lends to the concept.
I agree with the fact that when I saw the old mac as well I was surprised people were so happy about it. But I guess it was a big technological innovation at the time. The software that the website used probably helped improved it. The website that was assigned to you did seem very interactive.
I’ve never heard of architectural modeling software and acoustic simulation software before, but this sounds like such a cool project. I wonder how historians/curators who develop projects like these value/balance authenticity when making things interactive.