What we’ve been up to…

Over the past six months, we have settled into life as interns for the DH Team. Throughout the internship, we’ve become accustomed to supporting and facilitating the research of staff in the College of Humanities, and acting as the first point of contact for all the types of people coming in to use the lab spaces. We’ve undergone training in photogrammetry, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), and 3D printing… all whilst attempting to formulate an answer to the question “what exactly is digital humanities?”

We’ve been supporting numerous research projects such as Sarah-Jayne Ainsworth’s digitisation of Early Modern Bristol women’s wills, digitising Ronald Duncan micro-cassette tapes and the 2D digitisation of a collection of historic posters from the Northcott Theatre.

The Intern Showcase

The Intern Showcase, held in the lab’s seminar room at the end of the summer term, gave us the opportunity to share the fruits of our labour: 3D printing, theoretical research, and digitised family photos to name a few. Having the chance to discuss our findings with the attendees (ranging from our peers and postgraduate students, to the full-time members of the College of Humanities) was the perfect ending to our internship.

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Here’s what some of us had to say about interning at the Digital Humanities Lab:

“The last 6 months have triggered something of a release in the technophobe area of my brain – I have happily facilitated the smooth running of the video wall during conferences, taught myself the basics of Logic Pro, and contributed to a digitisation project. Recording and editing the wills of ten 17^th-century women from Bristol has been my favourite experience of this internship and I hope that Sarah-Jayne finds our contribution to her PhD research useful. My best piece of advice for the next cohort of interns would be to create or pursue a project that you’re interested in from the get-go! The lab has so many opportunities to offer so make the most of it. Come September, I will be studying for an MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature at the University of Sussex (and hopefully volunteering at their DH lab).” Emily Earp

“Initially, I thought that taking on this internship would develop my understanding of the Digital Humanities and allow me to improve my technical abilities. What I didn’t realise was that, alongside this, I would expand leadership skills, improve my confidence in taking risks and develop an ability to facilitate communication between various management levels and departments. Next year, I will be taking a gap year to explore New Zealand and work for a social enterprise in Australia. I hope to transfer the skills that I’ve learnt at the DH Lab to these new experiences. All the best to next year’s interns!” Hannah Houghton

 

“I’ve had a really informative and thought-provoking six months working at the Digital Humanities Lab. I thoroughly enjoyed the training we received in digital photography, and loved familiarising myself with the equipment in lab 1. As well as this, it was really inspiring to be able to help Sarah-Jayne with her PhD research, by recording and editing some 17th-century wills, written by women from Bristol. The front of house experience working on the desk was also unexpectedly beneficial, and I can safely say that I will be taking away lots of transferable skills from the internship. In September, I will start an MA in History (with a particular interest in modern feminist history) and will certainly use my experience from working at the lab in my further study. I wish the incoming interns the best of luck! Kezia Pugh

“These past six months have been fascinating, I have enjoyed being trained in various digitisation techniques, such as Reflective Transformation Imaging, photogrammetry and photography. This has been rewarding as I have seen myself learn and improve in a field I find both captivating and challenging. I have loved being able to get involved in the work done at the Lab, for example, with the recording and editing of wills from 17^th century Bristol for a PhD project. I have enjoyed this as a history student with a particular interest in the 17^th century. To the new interns, make sure you take advantage of the great opportunities you will have in this internship! I will be graduating from Exeter this summer and so am sad to leave but looking forward to the next year and the new adventure ahead of me!” Rachel Boult

“The most rewarding aspect of my time as an intern at the Digital Humanities Lab has been the opportunity to support both working academics and ongoing academic efforts, learning more and more about how the digital humanities can complement the more traditional methodologies of analysis in the humanities as a whole. One such example has been my work with the Ronald Duncan Archive at the University of Exeter’s Special Collections. Getting the opportunity to digitise physical audio material from the archive has been invaluable in granting me experience in dealing with primary source material, and understanding how that material makes its way into the academic discourse. It is this, alongside the deluge of technological understanding I’ve acquired, that I will take onwards into my academic career. I will be heading to London next to continue my English literature studies at masters level, and hopefully will be able to continue working first hand with archived material.” Daniel Wakefield

“Six months at the lab has taught me a considerable amount about digital techniques in humanities. My favourite projects have been working on 3D techniques such as photogrammetry and 3D printing. Next year I am continuing with the lab as an intern and hopefully working on more exciting projects linked with Archaeology. I am excited to meet the new interns and work with a new team of people, however I am so sad to say goodbye to my current intern team and friends – this experience wouldn’t have been the same without them!” Hannah Britton

Thank you to Emma, Gary, Graham and the rest of the DH Team for supporting our learning and professional development over the past six months. We wish you all the best!

DH Interns 2017-18

Daniel will be continuing to intern with us over the summer, and Hannah Britton will be returning as an intern with us again next year. 

Podcast

We spoke to our interns about their experiences this year, and you can listen to the conversation in the podcast below.