Fwd: [Geohumsig] URGENT: persistence GeoHumSIG at risk

[Leif Isaksen]

Also potentially of interest to Pelagiites

All best

L.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Benjamin Vis <benjami...@outlook.com>
Date: Fri, Nov 29, 2024 at 1:50 PM
Subject: [Geohumsig] URGENT: persistence GeoHumSIG at risk
To: geoh...@lists.digitalhumanities.org <geoh...@lists.digitalhumanities.org>

Dear GeoHumanities list subscribers,

 

We urgently seek interested scholars/academics active in the field of GeoHumanities to take on the role of Co-Convenor for this SIG. Without new people to taking on responsibility for the SIG, there is a risk that the GeoHumanities SIG within ADHO could cease to exist.

If you are interested in volunteering as a SIG Co-Convenor or know someone who might be, please write to benjami...@outlook.com without delay.

Meanwhile, I offer some background on the current condition of the SIG. A deeply unfortunate combination of precarious contracts/unemployment, health issues, and simply overburdening with professional obligations have affected all four of the current Co-Convenors (Patricia Murrieta-Flores (Lancaster University), Michael Page (Emory University), Werner Stangl (CNRS-CREDA/EHESS Paris, France, and University of Graz, Austria), and Benjamin Vis (Université Libre de Bruxelles & Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán) ever since before COVID-19 disruptions.

A couple of years ago we did attempt to re-energise the SIG by consolidating our development plans and focus for supporting the membership (which is you, the 390 people reading this), as reflected by the last (partial) update to the webpage here: https://geohumanities.org/?page_id=18. This present mailing list has seen more active days, but is still being managed. There are detailed plans for the further development of the Projects and Resources List as a service to the community, though we have lacked capacity to organise web and content development. I made sure that the SIG secured a modest amount of funding from ADHO in 2023 to support the SIG’s development and/or representation, though activities were contingent on planning and coordination among the Co-Convenors that did not take place in practice. To my knowledge there have been no requests, input or suggestions from the SIG membership.

If you missed us, the GeoHumanities SIG was not represented at this year’s DH conference. I’ve been informed that the SIG would be guaranteed a spot for pre-conference workshop or mini-conference at DH2025. However, the deadline seems to be December 1st or 8th (I’ll try to confirm this with them today). Ideally, any volunteers to co-convene the SIG would make themselves known to me ASAP at: benjami...@outlook.com and would be willing to consider plans for representing the SIG at DH2025. One possibility is to use the leftover budget to support conference participation, though it is unlikely to cover all costs for one individual.

Those interested in volunteering for the role of Co-Convenor should know that they can count on my participation as Co-Convenor at least until a new ‘team’ is properly settled, to support handover and continuity. Also I am sure the outgoing Co-Convenors would be happy to share input and information as required. I aim to attract three to five new Co-Convenors. Being a Co-Convenor should not be a tremendous burden. It is likely to be most rewarding when being proactive in developing and supporting the community through SIG activities, attending ADHO events, and ensuring regular meetings between Co-Convenors (I might suggest once every two months). There is a yearly reporting duty to ADHO and since 2023 a yearly opportunity (funds allowing) to apply for a small annual SIG budget.

Many thanks for those who have read through all information. Please do not hesitate to write to me with any questions, suggestions, and especially the willingness to volunteer. I would very much like to avoid ADHO dropping support for this SIG, which still has every potential to promote the field.

Kind regards,

Benjamin Vis

|| Dr Benjamin N. Vis | Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow | Urban Morphology, Comparative and Indigenous Urbanism, and Applied Archaeology | Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán & Faculté d’Architecture La Cambre Horta, Université Libre de Bruxelles | Mérida | Mexico ||

Find out more about my work online:

BenjaminVis.com

Academia.edu

Cities Made of Boundaries: Mapping social life in urban form (UCL Press, 2018)

_______________________________________________
Geohumsig mailing list -- geoh...@lists.digitalhumanities.org
To unsubscribe send an email to geohums...@lists.digitalhumanities.org