Hello, I’m Jean ʒɑ̃ (they/them) and I currently teach in the English Dept. at Baruch. I have a PhD in Comparative Literature (specialized in avant-garde poetics, continental philosophy, and queer studies) and MAs in Complit, Cinema Studies, & Aesthetics. I have some publications both in academic and non-academic venues around 20-21C artists’ literature, books, and cinema. (In my work, I’m very interested in advocating nonhuman/posthuman perspectives.) Additionally, I research/write about Black art and literature with a queer or gay & lesbian study bent.

(Partly I copied the segments of skillset from Eva’s post.)

Project management: I can manage this diplomatically and pragmatically since I have some professional experiences in this area but I don’t prefer it for my personal traits, which need some time for solitary work or autonomy.

Design/UX: I can offer advices or suggestions to the aesthetic matters of design as I have art history and criticism background, but I have little to zero digital skills in this area. Aside from scholarship and criticism, I make art analog ways and use digital tech only at the final stage for presentation.

Outreach/social media: I don’t like it. I rarely use social media.

Documentation: I can do this well expertly for various purposes (meaning not just for academic audiences). I’m not a professional archivist but I do advanced archival work for my collaboration and publication in the field of art & lit criticism. 

Research & writing: I’m an expert in researching material in the fields of literature and visual (and some sonic) art. And I write professionally for paid and unpaid (i.e., academic) publications so I’m happy to contribute to a project that requires that skill. I do some creative or artist (multimodal, etc) writing, also, if that sounds appealing to your project at all.

Thank you.

Hi! I’m Eva, a (nascent) web developer with an English (20th C African American lit focus) background. Here are my skills:

Project management: This is not my preference — I’m organized and generally good at sticking to deadlines (she said, on a post a day late), but I work better as a collaborator when I’m not project managing. 

Development: My last three semesters as a full-time DAV student have definitely kickstarted my data-driven development skills. I’m comfortable in web development (HTML, CSS, Javascript), collaboration with Github, and data viz softwares like Tableau, d3.js, Mapbox and Arc or QGIS. I’d consider this a definite strength of mine at this point. 

Design/UX: I have a decent baseline understanding here, but would absolutely love to support someone else who has knowledge/expertise with wireframing and other design skills. I’m trying to improve my skills in translating a design vision to actual shapes/colors/lines/fonts/icons etc, and would jump at the opportunity to support and learn from someone who knows more. 

Outreach/social media: This is not so much my thing, but I have some experience leveraging my network to get word out about projects, and am happy to send emails/make calls under someone else’s direction.

Documentation: I’m a strong writer, and a big goal of mine is documenting projects in ways that make them accessible and shareable. I want to make high quality academic work that is relevant and accessible to the public.

Research: I’m strong here — I have a liberal arts background and was an English major with a focus on critical race theory and DH. I’ve done a few projects with heavy literary DH research and writing in the last couple years, and my research interests include data ethics and the intersections of race, labor, and algorithmic control. 

Hi all! I, Rachel (she/her), am in my second semester in the Graduate Center’s DH program, and completed my undergrad with a concentration in Creative Writing and Literature. I have experience working on both connected and non-connected software (console games pre-online consoles, to mobile/web app), and love to learn new tools. I’m interested in research on how play and the design of “fun” experiences impact learning, memory, and how we work and relax; and anything to do with literature of any era (with a broad definition of “literature” too).

Project/Product/Outreach: I have picked up some project management skills, though my expertise is not in building to timelines as a product manager (which confuses everyone because naming is hard). To qualify the difference, I am better at scoping and descoping projects to focus on their intent, than timing everything perfectly to hit a deadline. (People who are good at this are either magic or mean and I am neither.) As a PdM I also have run many “user research” studies to see if designs or features are solving a problem or frustrating people. This usually involves talking to individuals on Zoom these days. While not the most academic methods, I have become adept at asking open questions and listening, and am able to report back on findings reasonably well.  Like Allison D, I would like to get better at organizing my research, where I still feel a bit rusty. I’m better at doing organizing the work for others.

Technical: I am not a developer but since I have worked in and on software teams for the better part of my adulthood, I have a fair amount of HTML, CSS, and vanilla JS. I also enjoy playing around with Python and SQL at work though I really am a dabbler with SQL. I’m good at analyzing software more than I am creating it (especially on a tight deadline) but I can lend a hand where I can. I have also done a lot of web management so am skilled with most CMS’s including WordPress, which hosted my old music blog in the 00s. Memories!

(I’m terrible at listing my tech skills, because like many tech savvy people my age who aren’t professional developers, these skills have changed and adapted quite a bit in the past 20-25 years! I might be able to help with things not listed here, so if you need a hybrid between a developer and another role, I often do well there)

Creative: I have some formal game design training and can use UX design tools like Figma & Whimsical. I have written copy professionally (admittedly I get a bit silly), and can edit audio in Ableton and other  DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations – I had to look it up myself) like Audacity. I also do voiceover work sometimes so if you need a voice or a script for one, I can help.

Interests & What I’d Like to Learn: I would love to learn more about archival best practices and methodologies in general – especially when thinking about multimedia artifacts, and would love to work with Omeka as it may become a tool I’d like to use with more frequency. I also am interested in learning more about data visualization and analysis.

Hello! This is my second semester in the M.A. program in Digital Humanities. I have a Master’s degree in library and information science with a focus in archives and records management. In the past, I also studied English and world literature. I’m presently working as an archivist and librarian and research center coordinator at a museum. 

I have been working on several books often involving a large number of people. So I tend to believe that I have good organizational skills and can work on (and oversee, if necessary) a project from the very beginning to the very end. I also was in charge of a blog dedicated to things in the archival field — I was communicating with potential authors, reading their contributions, selecting books for reviews, findings reviewers, publishing materials on this blog, and, in general, kept this blog in good order.

As an archivist, I am constantly being with touch with various kinds of researchers who seek help with their research. I like helping others — working with archival materials and library holdings means you’re always going to find out new things and that is what I find exciting. 

And when I’m not helping others with their research, I conduct my own research. Because of my degree in library and information science, I feel good about navigating all sorts of various library databases and archives databases. If/when necessary, I read in several Eastern European languages.

Background:

• In process: Urban Ed. Master’s (required coursework complete – capstone remains)
• B.A. English
  • broad exposure to a variety of disciplines through required core undergraduate curriculum beyond the major, as well as general sampling of many different subject areas
• professional experiences spanning work w/students in Nursery-Grade 12 & Higher Ed.
  • admissions, financial aid, student access services (hard of hearing)
    • comfortable w/reporting and data-driven systems and Excel
  • I come from a big family of teachers and school professionals who work with different aged students and in a variety of specializations, from general classroom teachers to subject specialists, counseling, and autism intervention.

Project Management/Outreach and Research:

• I am very comfortable with organization, planning, and presentation of materials. I am also happy to contact almost anyone, anywhere, about anything, and will place the cold call or write the cold email. Processing large volumes of reading or other material is also fine. At some very deep level, I believe that Google spreadsheets and being hyper-responsive on email can power one’s life…and that being able to laugh goes a long way in any group. On the research front, I am willing and capable in most domains so long as it does not require formal field-specific background to navigate the material or database.
• The technical front is my greatest concern. Although I have quickly learned most professional and personal systems I have encountered, some of the DH mapping and visualization software exists at the next level for me; in all honestly, it may be a function of not having the time to devote to it quite yet. Our fall term was my introduction to the field and I enjoyed dabbling in the different platforms we used but can see how there are certain barriers ie my lack of coding that will limit how much I can contribute. I have made several websites that passed for the purposes of general interest topics and local businesses, but the higher level functionality was severely limited. Relentlessly searching for workarounds is an ongoing theme. Learning a new system is something I’d be up for beginning in early to mid-March but I fear not realistically having the time before then.

Prior to coming to CUNY, I graduated from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. My concentration was in Applied Narrative – examining the forms narrative and storytelling take, and the ways in which they can be used effectively. Much of my career so far has involved teaching children aged 6-14 software usage skills or about narrative and storytelling, using Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition as a medium for doing so. I’ve also taken on several jobs gathering information from specified texts or other sources.

Research/Information Gathering: Research is probably the area I have the most experience, and maybe even the most proficiency. A huge part of my curriculum designing process involves seeking out and evaluating educational sources and learning tools. I’m comfortable performing research on a very wide variety of topics, especially in the realms of literature, literary analysis, and history. Perhaps the most significant research project I’ve undertaken was scouring a text corpus about the South African magazine, Drum for usable information for my employer at the time (he was writing a book on the subject).

Curriculum Design: While designing curriculum is a somewhat niche skill, I feel like my experience in this area could potentially be applicable elsewhere. When I design curriculum, I always need to take into account my audience and the speed at which the curriculum expects students to learn the material. I also have to design assignments, exercises, lists of readings, and projects that fit the subject matter. Last semester for Digital Pedagogy, I designed an introductory college-level course (including several project prompts, a full syllabus, and a full list of readings) for the Digital Humanities focusing on aiding students in designing their own personalized corpus.

Archiving and Recordkeeping: I keep and maintain an organized collection of offline archives on my computer, some personal, some for others. I have experience using DropBox and Google Drive, and I’m in the process of figuring out Conifer. I’ve never done archiving professionally, but from my experience, it has a lot of overlap with information gathering, and it is often a part of my information gathering process.

Teaching: I’m placing this rather low because I don’t know how applicable it will be. I’ve been teaching part-time for, depending on how one counts, 4-6 years, although the last three years have been the most formative and intensive. If a project requires people being taught a new skill or how to be familiar in a new area, I might be able to help, especially if it’s something in the realm of software use, literature, literary theory/critical analysis, or research.

Programming: I’m putting this at the very bottom of the list because at best, I can help someone proofread code. I’m familiar with Lua, JSON, and C++ (and I have messed with HTML and Python before), but not to the degree that I could reliably design anything with them. However, if my group’s programmer needs a proofreader in these languages or similar ones, I’m comfortable doing that. On a related note, I have experience with graphic design (I mostly work with Paint.NET, but I have experience with Photoshop as well), although only on a hobbyist level.

Design/UX: I’m strongest here. My day job is as a product/UX designer for a mid-sized tech company, so I have substantial experience with UX design tools (Figma, Sketch, InVision, etc.) and methodologies (UX research, sketching, prototyping, UX writing, etc.). On that note, I also have visual design skills, so I am pretty acquainted with the Adobe Creative Suite, including Illustrator (graphic design), After Effects (animation), Lightroom (photo editing), InDesign (layout design), and a little Photoshop.

Developer: Familiar with HTML and CSS. Not an expert at either, but know how to work with them. Other than that, not much developer experience.

Research: I have both academic and UX research experience; the latter more than the former. I do user research (interviews, surveys, diary studies, data analysis, etc.) for work and also did it in undergrad. In terms of academic research, I took a research methodologies class in undergrad for my thesis, though since my interests are mainly theory-based—so I don’t really have the research expertise of a social scientist.

Project manager: I have not done this before, though there are project managers at my company that I work extensively with. I think that I’d be able to take what I know from what they do and transfer that understanding into a project.

Outreach: I have not done this before, nor do I think I’d be the person to do this (i.e. I have social anxiety).

Hi everyone!

I have a BS in Speech Pathology & Audiology, an MA in English Literature, and I am currently a PhD student in the English department. I have 5-6 years of experience as Program Director for arts & social justice based youth programming. I have managed a teams that consisted of 15-20 staff members and programs with 90+ participants. I had to plan a year’s worth of programming at a time as well as adjust and pivot when necessary. We had many stakeholders to consider and did all of our own outreach.

Project Management/Outreach: This is probably where I have the most experience (as per my Program Director days). I am good at planning, developing, and  managing systems. I am happy to contribute to a project in this way.

Research: I am also just as comfortable with research because of my background in the academy. Though my focus has primarily in literature, I am confidant my abilities will transfer to what is necessary.

Design/UX/Developer: I am least confident in these positions. I don’t have any real coding or tech skills. BUT I am very interested in anything sound/audio related and would love to learn and contribute a sound portion to any one of the projects. I am committed to learning any basic audio software that would be useful. I am also happy to think through design/ux ideas.

With a BA in media studies, I specialize in visual and multimodule storytelling. I’m able to shoot and edit video as well as record and edit sound. You can review my content and skills HERE.

Outreach: I’ve used outreach strategies to advertise, coordinate, and retain student and partner engagements. To do this, I’ve used Adobe Creative Cloud, Survey Monkey, MailChimp, Google Suite, and others to create promotional content and connect with potential audiences.

Project management: I have strong organizational and communication skills that serve well under a project management position. I develop these skills over the past few years as the youth media education coordinator at Manhattan Neighborhood Network and as the registration and front desk operator at various film/art festivals around NYC.

Social Media: This is not my area of expertise but I have managed social media accounts, and I’m well versed in Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Writing: I read/write/speak in both English and Spanish. I enjoy writing and consider it to be one of my most vital skills. I have a blog where I analyze popular tv narratives.

Besides these, I have a strong passion and experience in the field of education. I’ve been a teacher in various capacities for over 10 years.