Rationale
The network analysis of large datasets has been a viable working methodology in the Social Sciences since the 1970s. Although its applicability within the Humanities has been explored more slowly, its use has increased in recent years in projects such as the mapping of letter writers’ networks in Early Modern Europe or the exploration of relationships among individual words and terms used in the Iliad. What these examples have in common is a large but uniform source base that can easily be converted into machine-readable OCR content. In contrast, when scholars of medieval women seek to explore the various networks that connect their research subjects, they encounter many of the same challenges that confront other pre-modern scholars wishing to use digital tools, as well as others unique to their sub-field. Difficulties inherent in working with pre-modern sources include the diversity of source types or the lack of either pre-existing or easily-accessible methods of source digitization, and pre-modern textual sources may be differentiated by language, scribal hand, or physical format (e.g.; codices with or without illuminations, charters, rolls, court proceedings, accounts). Questions of patronage networks also raise the issue of integrating images of physical art objects in a multiplicity of forms into the equation. Aside from these more common challenges, the sources and methods developed over the past fifty years to study medieval women’s lives present an even more complex data model than those used in other medieval sub-fields. This means that even the digital tools that work well for other types of pre-modern digital investigation may not translate easily to the study of medieval women’s lives and the networks that connected them.

The goals of the webinar are:

to identify the sources and methodologies scholars employ to study the lives of medieval women, and
to think collaboratively about how researchers might extract information from these same sources and build data models to harness the power of computer-enabled analysis to make the most of the information they find.
Methodology and Program
Thankfully, a growing number of feminist medievalists have already begun to explore the ways computer-based tools can help map the networks of medieval women. In this way, researchers can explore medieval women’s lived experiences as part of a set of overlapping communities that reveal their political activities or their cultural and religious patronage. The workshop is planned as a two day event:

Day one will focus on presentations by scholars who research medieval women’s lives who have considered using network analysis for their computer-based research, or those who have already begun to do so. Some of the key questions that should be addressed include:
What did they think network analysis would allow them to do?
What strategies have they tried?
What roadblocks have they experienced?
To remind the participants of the potential advantages of computer-enabled work, the first day’s program will include reporting from researchers who have successfully launched DH projects, and some of the techniques they used to do so.

Schedule:

12:00-13:30: Introduction and Scholar Presentations

Presenting scholars include Adrienne Williams Boyarin, Elena Brizio, Tracy Chapman-Hamilton, S.C. Kaplan, Samantha Katz-Seale, Mariah Proctor, & Yvonne Seale.

13:30-14:30: Attendee Discussion (moderated)

Day two will feature DH experts who will respond to what was presented the day before to recommend strategies, data platforms and/or appropriate DH technologies, and to facilitate discussions among participants.
Schedule:

12:00-13:30: Introduction and Scholar Presentations
DH experts include Kalani Craig, Erin McCarthy, Jeffrey Rydberg-Cox, & Sébastien de Valeriola

13:30-14:30: Attendee Discussion (moderated)

All discussions will take place online and will be open to a public audience.

Desired Outcomes
A targeted introduction to digital methods for the study of medieval women;
Presentation of case studies and best practices;
Hands-on training on how to use DH tools to plot medieval women’s networks;
Networking opportunities and community building.

An online event sponsored by
Center for Digital and Public Humanities, University of Missouri-Kansas City,
Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, and
Digital Medievalist

Thursday, October 17 & Friday, October 18, 2024
12:00-14:30 EST

Participation is free and open to all; Registration required.
Registration link (available after August 9, 2024)

Contact:
Dr Kathy Krause, Professor Emerita, University of Missouri-Kansas City
KrauseK at umkc.edu

Dr Laura Morreale, Independent Scholar & Digital Medievalist
lmorreale3 at gmail.com