jwbaker

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James Baker is Director of Digital Humanities at the University of Southampton. James is a Software Sustainability Institute Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and holds degrees from the University of Southampton and latterly the University of Kent, where in 2010 he completed his doctoral research on the late-Georgian artist-engraver Isaac Cruikshank. James works at the intersection of history, cultural heritage, and digital technologies. He is currently working on a history of knowledge organisation in twentieth century Britain. In 2021, I begin a major new Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project 'Beyond Notability: Re-evaluating Women’s Work in Archaeology, History and Heritage, 1870 – 1950'. Previous externally funded research projects have focused on legacy descriptions of art objects ('Legacies of Catalogue Descriptions and Curatorial Voice: Opportunities for Digital Scholarship', Arts and Humanities Research Council), the preservation of intangible cultural heritage ('Coptic Culture Conservation Collective', British Council, and 'Heritage Repertoires for inclusive and sustainable development', British Academy), the born digital archival record ('Digital Forensics in the Historical Humanities', European Commission), and decolonial futures for museum collections ('Making African Connections: Decolonial Futures for Colonial Collections', Arts and Humanities Research Council). Prior to joining Southampton, James held positions of Senior Lecturer in Digital History and Archives at the University of Sussex and Director of the Sussex Humanities Lab, Digital Curator at the British Library, and Postdoctoral Fellow with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. He is a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council Peer Review College, a convenor of the Institute of Historical Research Digital History seminar, a member of The Programming Historian Editorial Board and a Director of ProgHist Ltd (Company Number 12192946), and an International Advisory Board Member of British Art Studies.

CRADLED IN CARICATURE : a multidisciplinary event

Friday 27 April 2012, COLT3, University of Kent, Canterbury

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

This one-day event will approach the notion of ‘caricature’ in its broadest sense, using it as a jumping-off point for discussions on exaggeration, stereotyping, representation, and characterisation. The multi-disciplinary event therefore intends to explore the following problems:

Why are societies framed by traditions of exaggeration and stereotyping?
How does fiction convey meaning through caricature and the categorisation of types?
How does political economy, psychology, and perception appropriate these processes?
How far and with what consequences does the web construct cultural bias?
Are all societies and cultures (real, imagined; past, present) cradled in and constructed by caricature?

Cradled in Caricature welcomes contributions from scholars working in all disciplines. In order to encourage an open and fluid discussion, proposed contributions may take a variety of formats – from traditional papers, organised workshops and roundtable discussions, to readings, posters, films or short performance pieces.

Attendance at Cradled in Caricature is free of charge. Interested contributors and delegates should download an application form here, and contributors must return completed forms and abstracts (circa 300 words) to cradledincaricature@gmail.com by 3 March 2012. Queries or questions should be directed to James Baker at cradledincaricature@gmail.com or twitter.com/cincaricature.

Confirmed speakers:

Robert L Patten, Lynette S. Autrey Professor in Humanities, Rice University.
Dr Richard Taws, University College London.
Dr Oliver Double, University of Kent.
Dr Ernesto Priego, The Comics Grid/HASTAC.

We are delighted to announce that proposals will be considered for adaptation and publication in a special Autumn 2012 edition of Skepsi, the University of Kent’s Interdisciplinary Online Journal of European Thought and Theory in Humanities and Social Sciences. The deadline for submission of articles is 1 June 2012. Further information can be found on the event application form.

Cradled in Caricature is supported by the Faculty of Humanities, University of Kent, the Department of History of Art, University College London, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, and the Graduate School, University of Kent.