Announcing a Special Session:

Digital Humanities in Theatre Research
A Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR)

May 1-4, 2019, New York City
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Abstracts are due by March 1, 2019 

This year, instead of meeting at the annual IFTR conference in Shanghai, the Digital Humanities in Theatre Research working group will hold a special session at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City. The meeting will include a special tour of theatre archives in New York City.

We are currently soliciting papers and project presentations that represent the full range of experience theatre scholars and practitioners have with digital humanities. We are especially interested in topics that: 

• Introduce important digital humanities projects in theatre and performance studies
• Examine the theoretical implications of digital humanities for our research into theatre and performance
• Explore new methodologies in theatre research based on digital technologies
• Focus on digital theatre history and historiography
• Discuss best practices for digital humanities projects in theatre and performance
• Elaborate on innovations in academic curricula in theatre and performance studies inspired by the digital humanities
• Investigate the challenges of crowdsourcing or the use of "citizen scholars" in digital humanities research

Working groups are not required to address the theme of an IFTR conference but papers that enter into conversation with the 2019 IFTR conference theme ofTheatre, Performance, and Urbanism are most welcome. 

Submitting Abstracts

Abstracts (up to 300 words) on either a proposed paper or the presentation of a digital project will be accepted in English. Abstracts are due by March 1, 2019, submitted by email to iftr@dougreside.com. Notice of acceptance will be given in February. 

When you submit your abstracti, please include the following information under "Equipment required":

• All technical equipment needed to successfully present your project
• If you are not submitting a paper, what kind of presentation are you doing?

If your abstract is accepted, Monday, April 15, 2019 is the deadline to submit everything the working group needs to prepare for a detailed discussion of your presentation during the conference. This can include completed papers, outlines (up to three pages) for your DH project presentation, or links to online materials. Please send this by email to both conveners: Nic Leonhardt: nic.leonhardt@gmx.de and Doug Reside: doug@dougreside.com. 

This material will be distributed to all participants in our sessions to facilitate our discussions at the meeting. It will also be distributed to long-time members of our working group who may be unable to attend this conference, to keep them well-informed. 

We look forward to reading your abstracts,
Nic Leonhardt (LMU Munich)  & Doug Reside (NYPL, New York City), conveners of the Digital Humanities in Theatre Research Working Group