Digital Humanities Week to focus on adding arts to STEM disciplines

The University of Maine will host several free and public events as part of Digital Humanities Week, Oct. 2–6.

This year’s conference will examine what role the arts and humanities play in a world that is increasingly driven by science and technology. A growing movement known as STEM To STEAM aims to interject the arts into the STEM disciplines.

Events will range from formal presentations to hackathons run by students.

Speakers from MIT, Harvard, Dartmouth, UCLA, University of Texas, Bowdoin, Colby, UMaine and other University of Maine System campuses will demonstrate or examine art-science collaborations that have produced groundbreaking scientific discoveries, from the use of DNA to store cultural data to audio microscopes.

Other demonstrations will include creating “hypercities” by superimposing layers of historical data on an urban map; using a planetarium dome for data visualization or 3-D sound; and building virtual museums to document local economies.

Founded at UMaine in 2011, the biennial Digital Humanities Week focuses on the ways that new technologies are transforming arts and letters, history, and the social sciences.

More about Digital Humanities Week, including registration, is online.