Small central lake and bridge in the Japanese Garden section of the Devonian Botanical Garden, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
WHAT: The Digital Botanical Garden, FCCS Research Series
WHEN: Wednesday, November 13, 2 to 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: CCS 142, UBC Okanagan Campus
ADMISSION: Free
As part of the FCCS Research Series, Emerging Visions: Digital Media and Culture, Dr. Dene Grigar, Dr. Lee Foote, and Dr. Hussein Keshani, will discuss the work of the Back to the Garden research team on Wednesday, November 13 from 2-3:30 in CCS 142.
They will discuss their work on how botanic gardens, which are increasingly asked to take on greater social roles, can be reimagined in the 21st century. Using the case of the forthcoming Islamic garden at the Devonian Botanic garden at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, the ways digital interpretive technologies can help botanic gardens promote social cohesion and intercultural understanding through the enhancement of public knowledge of the cultural and environmental heritage of the Islamic world will be discussed.
Dr. Hussein Keshani, is an Assistant Professor in Art History and Visual Culture who researches architectural and garden histories of Islamic India.
Dr. Dene Grigar is Director of and Associate Professor in the Digital Technology and Culture Program at Washington State University Vancouver who works in the area of electronic literature, emergent technology and cognition, and ephemera.
Dr. Lee Foote is Associate Professor and Director of the Devonian Botanic Gardens at the University of Alberta. Foote’s research focuses on waterfowl habitat creation, disturbance and reclamation using adaptive management, wildlife habitat manipulation and using natural processes, and sustainable use of renewable resources. Secondary interests include sustainable use of northern wildlife, social sustainability in African savannah ecosystems and trophic dynamics in wetlands.
Emerging Visions: Digital Media and Culture is sponsored by Green College UBC and the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, UBC Okanagan. For more information on the research series, visit www.ubc.ca/okanagan/fccs/research/areas-of-expertise/media/emergingvisions.html
On Thursday, November 14th, Dr. Grigar will host another lecture, Leading by Practice: Creative Approaches to the Digital Humanities and Media Arts from 10am to noon in ART 203.
Initially trained in Classics, Dr. Grigar is an innovative researcher, teacher, new media artist and administrator whose work crosses the boundaries of literary studies, media arts, media studies, and digital humanities. Drawing on her experiences, Grigar will speak on the importance of practice-led research and her successes in building research and teaching programs that both enhance the humanities and arts while preparing students for the digital workplace. The session will be followed by an open discussion on how to integrate teaching and research in digital humanities, computer science and new media art at UBC’s Okanagan campus.
Grigar is currently the President of the Electronic Literature Organization and also runs two labs: Motion-Tracking Virtual Environment lab (MOVE) and Elit Lab.