Visual Studies (2007)

Sunday, July 8th (2 pm) – Tuesday, July 10, 2007 (2 pm)
University of Virginia, Charlottesville

With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Scholarly Communication Institute (SCI) began in 2003 with the overall goal of providing an opportunity for scholars and leaders in scholarly disciplines and societies, academic libraries, advanced technologies and higher education administration to design, test, and implement strategies to advance scholarship and its dissemination in the context of the ongoing digital revolution. Following and building upon the very successful 2006 Institute on architectural history, the SCI Steering Group has decided to focus SCI 5, beginning in summer 2007, on visual scholarship.

Visual media, i.e. motion pictures, photography, video, 3-D images, simulations, and new media artworks, are having profound effects on scholarship. SCI 5 will bring together several accomplished scholars from the humanities and sciences, including both theorists and practitioners, focusing primarily on ‘visual scholars’, those who utilize the visual in all facets of scholarly communication, from research and analysis to communicating their scholarship to others. A small number of individuals with expertise in libraries, advanced technologies, publishing, museums, and other relevant arenas will join these scholars. Plenary and small group discussions will focus on the following aspects of visual communication and its impact and implications for scholarship: (1) research and discovery; (2) analysis; (3) presentation; (4) dissemination; and (5) persistent access. Questions and problem sets will be determined by scholars, in collaboration with SCI program staff, beforehand and expanded and refined during the Institute itself.

Specific aims for SCI 5 include:

• Identify and describe the ‘grand challenges’ facing visual studies as scholars seek to integrate new and emerging media in their research, practice, and teaching.
• Explore the impact and implications of new digital resources and technology on creating, sharing, disseminating, and preserving ‘visual scholarship’. What new questions does visual scholarship allow us to ask and study?
• Discuss and evaluate the ‘collaborative model’ as an approach to progress with (1) and (2).
• How can libraries, technologists, institutions, and funding agencies support you and assist you in advancing your work?
• Create ‘communities of action’ to further the work of SCI 5 over the next 12–18 months. One possible outcome of SCI 5 would be a research agenda.
• Extend and maintain a web-based portal to SCI current and future plans, activities, and outcomes.

Participants will spend two full days in plenary and small group discussion, along with ample opportunities for informal exchange. A key component of SCI’s underlying philosophy is that results matter, and SCI leadership is committed to assisting participants develop real and reasonable goals that can be accomplished. Theoretical and practical discussions are designed to lead to an action agenda. The July 2007 Institute will be followed up over the next twelve months, focusing on areas and activities identified by the participants.

For Additional Information

Richard E Lucier
Director, Scholarly Communication Institute, University of Virginia
Email