The primary goal of LEADR, the Lab for Education & Advancement in Digital Research at MSU, is to facilitate student research in History and Anthropology using a variety of digital methods and tools. I was Director from 2019-2023 (and was Assistant Director from 2016-2019). Lab staff members worked with faculty to design digital projects and …
Author: A.L. McMichael
Dissertation
My PhD dissertation in Byzantine art history utilized digital methods such as photogrammetry, vector modeling, and web mapping to argue that monumental ceiling crosses were designed objects used to manipulate the experience of viewers in Cappadocian monuments. McMichael, Alice Lynn. “Rising Above the Faithful: Monumental Ceiling Crosses in Byzantine Cappadocia.” PhD dissertation, The Graduate Center, …
Byzantine Studies and DH
In Fall 2017 I was invited to develop a workshop on the intersection of Digital Humanities and Byzantine Studies for the Byzantine Studies Conference in Minneapolis in 2017. My article on the same topic was published in Peregrinations Journal: McMichael, A.L. “The Byzantine Scholar’s Digital Portfolio,” in Brad Hostetler and Sarah Blick, eds., Peregrinations, vol. …
Dewey Digital Teaching Award
Description The New Media Lab’s Dewey Digital Teaching Award is a recognition of teaching has been “transformed by the innovative use of new technologies,” especially for work accomplished by doctoral student adjuncts and teaching fellows. I received it for my work on Documenting Cappadocia in Fall 2012.
Cappadocia on the Commons
Description The Cappadocia on the Commons initiative augments the Digital Catalog of Cappadocian Ceiling Crosses with an interactive map and 3D models of Byzantine monuments, curated into a public-facing web resource. This project begins with a digital dissertation data contribution to a stable repository. The data is then pulled into a public facing website that …
Tagging the Tower Posts
Description The GC Digital Fellows Program operates as an “in-house think-and-do tank” for digital projects throughout the Graduate Center. Tagging the Tower, a group blog on the GC Digital Fellows website, is a collection of posts that include reflections, tutorials, and events. My contributions (highlights below) were added between 2012 and 2015. Posts Evaluating, Valuing, …
“Collaborative Definitions” AHTR Essay
Description The essay was a response to an activity from my Fall 2015 course, Digital Humanities and the Modern City, in which the students were given agency to define digital humanities for themselves. This assignment reflection was first disseminated on AHTR Weekly, a blog on the Art History Teaching Resources (AHTR) website which had more …
DH Workshops
Description I have taught a variety of digital humanities skills workshops. Some were one-off skills events for faculty and graduate students at the Graduate Center as part of the GC Digital Fellows workshop series. These were designed to connect graduate researchers to accessible tools and methods to answer research question for scholarly projects. Others were …
“Small Data” in ISAW Papers
Description As a follow-up to the 2011 NEH-sponsored Linked Ancient World Data Institute (LAWDI), I contributed to an edited volume of ISAW Papers in which I argue for the importance of small-scale individual work such as dissertations in the wider linked data network of digital late antiquity resources. Citation McMichael, A.L. “Byzantine Cappadocia: Small Data …
“Linked Data for the Uninitiated”
Description I wrote this essay as an introduction to linked open data (LOD) and as a way of exploring its possibilities in my own work. It was originally posted to both Documenting Cappadocia and Tagging the Tower, the GC Digital Fellows blog. Essay This two-part post is my follow-up to LAWDI 2012, officially known as …
“Linking Outside the Box”
Description This essay on explores the possibilities and parameters for working with out-of-the-box tools while producing or reusing linked open data (LOD). It was originally posted to both Documenting Cappadocia and Tagging the Tower, the GC Digital Fellows blog. Essay My last post, “Linked Data for the Uninitiated,” was designed to introduce the concept of …
Linked Open Data Zotero Library
Description In conjunction with my research on Linked Open Data, I created a related bibliography for the GC Digital Fellows website. The most recent version of the bibliography can be found in the GC Digital Fellows public Zotero group in the Linked Data Library. Role Content curator
Centotto Collaborations
Description Centotto: galleria [simposio] salotto is a multimedia art space curated by Paul D’Agostino in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I have collaborated on several projects since 2011. Roles Exhibiting artist, catalog author, panelist, lecturer Events and Publications exhibiting artist (photography and mixed media) Legend Anew (May-July 2014) Courtesy Roman Abramovich (February-March 2012) Nautical Notes: Mari, Navi e …
After Vasari
Description After Vasari is an ongoing series of essays “about art and artists and where they exist.” Co-founded in 2011 with artist-curator-scholar Paul D’Agostino, it is an outlet for writing about art from the perspective of fellow creatives. URL aftervasari.wordpress.com Roles Co-founder and writer
“Undoings Redone”
Description The following is my contribution to the catalog for the Marksmen and the Palimpsests, an exhibition curated by Paul D’Agostino for Centotto, with artworks John Avelutto and Josh Willis. The essay was also posted online at After Vasari. Citation “Undoings Redone: Palimpsests and Palimpsests,” in Paul D’Agostino, ed., Marksmen and the Palimpsests, (New York: …
Guidelines for Evaluating Digital Scholarship
Description Digital Scholarship Researcher for the Mellon-funded College Art Association and Society of Architectural Historians Task Force to Develop Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure in Digital Art and Architectural History (January 2015-July 2015). Roles My tasks as Digital Scholarship Researcher included interviewing administrators and digital scholars throughout the country, and conducting a thorough analysis of …
“Evaluating, Valuing, and Promoting Digital Scholarship” Event
Description A panel and discussion with five scholars from four institutions about evaluating digital scholarship. Digital resources and methods are deeply embedded in academic research. However, processes for evaluation, peer review, and assessment projects that include digital scholarship have not kept pace with the technological and methodological changes that have altered research practices …
Digital Dissertations Liaison
Description Graduate Center Digital Dissertations Liaison (2014-2015) Roles My responsibility was to raise administrative awareness of requests, issues, and interest from faculty and students who are digital scholars. I also conveyed digital resources and support opportunities to students and faculty while conducting workshops in digital tools and methods. I have been an outspoken advocate at …
THATCamp CAA
Description THATCamp (The Humanities And Technology Camp) was an unconference held as a pre-conference forum for digital artists and art historians in association with the College Art Association’s annual conference, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (2014) and the Samuel Kress Foundation (2015). Roles Participant, invited speaker, discussion leader. My contributions were geared toward …
Digital Evaluation Projects
Over the last several years I have taken on a number of roles that involve evaluating digital scholarship. This includes advocating for scholars who need the work to be considered for promotion, tenure, or academic credit; promoting guidelines and best practice policies; and empowering peer reviewers, granting agencies, and promotion committees to best understand and …
