In a series of online presentations featuring technology, arts, humanities, and sciences, HASTAC Scholars and distinguished experts spearhead the exploration of pioneering topics. This synergy of ideas and innovations takes center stage at Digital Fridays, a series designed to foster insights, encourage the exchange of ideas, and cultivate a vibrant community for HASTAC Scholars. As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of digital scholarship and innovation, Digital Fridays is a space to expand our understanding of how various disciplines integrate digital tools into their practices.
Join us for this Digital Friday Presentation on April 12th with:
Daria Berman
Title: “Legal Narratives of Heresy”
Daria Berman is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on Spanish and Mexican Inquisitions in the seventeenth century, particularly on the Grand Auto de Fe of the 1640s. In her talk, she will discuss how she works with R for textual analysis of Inquisition trials to study how magistrates created legal narratives of heresy.
Rimi Nandy
Title: “Facebook as Autofiction: Navigating Digital Narratives and Self-Construction in the Social Media Sphere”
Rimi Nandy is a PhD Research Scholar at the School of Media, Communication and Culture, Jadavpur University, India. She has been teaching English Language and Literature at various institutions since 2011. Her research interests include Digital Humanities, Narratology, Media Studies, Postmodernism, Posthumanism and Japanese Cultural Studies. She has published journal articles and book chapters in the field of digital humanities.
Niloufar Esmaeili
Title: ”Empowering Voices: The Cultural Impact of Iranian Women’s Digital Activism”
Niloufar is a doctoral student in the Department of English at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her research focuses on digital media activism, transnational feminism, and gender violence in Iran, with a global perspective that seeks to establish connections with other feminist movements, such as those in the borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico. Through her research, she aims to shed light on the experiences of those affected by gender violence in Iran, a population that often faces systemic discrimination and oppression. Her academic work seeks to bridge the gap between academia and the broader society. She is committed to making her research accessible to non-academic audiences. By disseminating knowledge and raising awareness about issues like gender violence and feminism, she hopes to inspire action and change on the broader community.
Jyothi Justin
Title: “Digital Cartography and Feminist Geocriticism: A Case Study of the Marichjhapi Massacre”
Jyothi Justin is a doctoral candidate with the Digital Humanities and Publishing Studies Research Group at IIT Indore, India. She hails from an English and Comparative Literature background. She is interested in using digital tools for literary research. She has experimented with GIS for her research on female survivors of Dalit massacres in which she aims to utilize geospatial tools to give visibility to indigenous communities (especially Dalit women of India). Besides her interest in literature and films, Jyothi is also interested in gender studies and gender movements, especially feminism and queer studies. Jyothi has presented and published on the broad topics: Digital Humanities, Spatial Humanities, Dalit Studies, Digital Cartography and Feminist Geocriticism, Ecocriticism and Reproducibility in DH among others. She is a HASTAC scholar (2023-2025) and the recipient of the CLS INFRA TNA fellowship (2024). She is also currently serving as the executive committee member of Digital Humanities Alliance in Research and Teaching Innovation (DHARTI) from 2022.
The diverse topics of our speakers underscore the multifaceted nature of digital scholarship. From the historical analysis of legal narratives to the modern examination of identity on social media, the empowerment of marginalized voices, and the application of digital cartography in literary studies, each talk illuminates a unique aspect of how technology intersects with humanities.
Daria Berman’s exploration of legal narratives through textual analysis of Inquisition trials, Rimi Nandy’s study of self-construction in social media, Niloufar Esmaeili’s examination of digital activism by Iranian women, and Jyothi Justin’s digital cartography in feminist geocriticism collectively underscore the multifaceted nature of digital narratives. Each presentation highlights the transformative power of digital technologies in research and bridges the gap between traditional methodologies and contemporary digital practices, offering new insights into the construction and interpretation of narratives in the digital age.
At the core of these presentations is a profound engagement with narratives, whether they are constructed through legal documents, social media platforms, activism, or geospatial analysis. The speakers’ diverse academic backgrounds and research interests converge on the common theme of understanding and articulating narratives within the digital sphere. By applying digital tools such as textual analysis software, social media analysis, digital activism platforms, and GIS, they illustrate the dynamic ways in which narratives can be constructed, deconstructed, and reimagined. This convergence not only enriches our understanding of narratives in the digital era but also amplifies voices and perspectives that are often marginalized. Through their pioneering work, the speakers invite us to reconsider the role of digital technologies in shaping our understanding of history, identity, activism, and space, thereby contributing to a broader dialogue on the cultural and societal impact of digital narratives.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Parisa Setayesh
HASTAC Scholars Co-Director