I grew up in Downs Illinois, which is right on the border of Bloomington Illinois. In Bloomington I remember a faint memory of going on a field trip to this old house known as the David Davis mansion. When looking at this assignment this house flashed into my head and made me wonder; “why did we go to this random house?” This led to me doing some research online and I realized this was not some random mansion, this mansion belonged to David Davis, the campaign manager of Abraham Lincoln. This is an important piece of history for many reasons, one being that the building acts as a time capsule for the time it was created, back in 1872. This building is also important as it offers a glimpse into the life of a very important individual from that time period. Not only was David Davis the campaign manager of Abraham Lincoln, he was also a close friend of his. Looking back to when me and my class took a field trip there I almost wish I was older, so that I could truly appreciate the history I was surrounded by.
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I am originally from the southside of Chicago. This is a city that is always doing something. Typically known as the Windy City. Its history was marked by its beautiful transformation from a trading post to a beautiful vibrant and culturally diverse city. That is in regard to the culture we have there. In Chicago we have very diverse cultures that stay alive because everyone has a different story to tell. Every part of Chicago is filled with history. Which is why there are many art exhibits, museums, etc. The history of this city was founded on everyone having a different beginning and ultimately blending together. The multiple of historical landmarks located in our city keep the history of Chicago alive, whether that be the good or bad, it is the truth. Such as the Pullman National Monument and the DuSable Museum of African American History. These cultural institutions and landmarks showcase that everyone has a different side of history; and now have the responsibility of reminding people where it all started at.
In the middle of the city I live in, there lies a fountain. It is in a roundabout called a square, ironic, but what is it doing there? What is its history? This is something I have not known about, even after living here for most of my life in Belleville, IL. Most of the time, it usually stays off, but once in a while, it will turn on, and even at night, it will light up with a colorful glow. It was always exciting seeing the fountain run, but as I mentioned, it was a rare sight to see. The History of this fountain was to be a veteran memorial built in 1937, but the original base of the fountain was later removed and replaced by what it is currently. The original base, though, was not destroyed; it was moved over to a park in Swansea. This is where it still resides today. The fountain was always something that interested me in the area I lived in, and this is why I pondered upon what its real purpose was.
I live in Peoria Illinois which serves as a mid-sized metropolitan city with a population of over 400,000. The city has various secluded parks and natural areas, like the rugged trails of Rocky Glen Park, Robinson Park, etc. I have been to the Jubilee College State Park near Brimfield, which I didn’t really enjoy, as there is nothing much to see. Though, I think it is a great place for camping and hiking, since they have trails.
I have always wondered what it would be like to live in a city with national park, so, I did a little research on what makes a national park. First, I learned that the population of a city does not determine if it would have a national park or not. National parks require certain criteria for it to be present in a city or state. They are established based on the massive, pristine or scientifically unique landscape, which Peoria Illinois lacks. So, the city focuses more on local conservation, such as Wildlife Prairie Park and the Peoria Park District.
The closest national park to Peoria is 150 miles away and is located in Missouri. For those visiting Peoria who may not want to visit the state park, and would like something similar to a national park, they could visit the closest nature areas like Wildlife Prairie Park which feature native animals like bison, bears and wolves.
I am interested in where this course will be going in the future and there a few particular assignments/units that interest me the most. One of the sections that interests me is the section about Ai fiction. I have personally not looked into or cared much for AI fiction, but I am interested in what types of work Ai is pumping out. I am also interested in the unit about early computation as I always think the way old computers were operated is so interesting. I love how computers know are insanely smaller than what they were back in the day, its such a cool sign to see how far we have come with technology. The final thing that interests me a lot is the unit about digitizing things from reality. I am not too sure what exactly that entails which is why the topic interests me so much. I look forward to this semester and all the different topics covered.
I wanted to make this post to share a little about myself. I am a junior at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and I am interested in advertisement and media production as well. Back in my hometown of Downs Illinois I have two cats, a dog, and my brother and sister. I am excited about this class as I want to see what exactly digital humanities is. I wasn’t too aware of this subject in general and I am eager to see if there is any knowledge I can pick up from this course that I can apply in my pursuit of my future career. I ended up joining the class about a week late so I am currently trying to play a bit of catch up but as I have been exploring the different modules and assignments I have been enjoying the different aspects of this class. I am looking forward to having a fun and successful semester. I decided to attach a picture of an old dog of mine named Cooper.
The world’s first nuclear reactor is currently buried in a forest preserve in Chicago. I stumbled upon it when I was in High School during a land-navigation competition where we had to find points in the forest using a compass and map. Through one of those runs my buddy and I saw this weird rock in the middle of nowhere with writing on it and eerily enough it said there was radioactive material buried underneath us. That made us go “WHY WOULD THAT BE HERE???”, it felt like a nuclear bomb should’ve been stored at least hundreds of miles away from any city. After reading the description and doing some light research afterwards we found out that the park was the site of University of Chicago’s nuclear reaction testing and wasn’t dangerous at the depth it was buried. I’m sure we couldn’t have been the first or the last to have their hearts drop as soon as they stop to see the funny rock with a paragraph.
With the Spring semester getting into it’s full swing, I am excited to see what this class is about. Through the discussions in class so far I have learned the key concepts of the digital humanities field, and am ready to see where that takes us. After reading the syllabus a few things stood out to me. The fiction AI comparison is fun, I watch a lot of movies and think that a topic relating to my interests would make the assignment a breeze per-say. The field of AI is important and rapidly growing so it’s nice to have in-class discussions about it and it’s uses and shortcomings. I also think the location based concepts sound intriguing. I know little about the St. Louis / Metro East’s history and learning through a digital space could be more involving than a book or test. Last, the tools we are using in class have already proven a slight challenge to me; nonetheless I am learning them quickly and plan to have a stronger grasp on the software as time goes on. I hope the class goes well for everyone!
I’m interested in how digital humanities are involved with digital marketing. I am a marketing major with an interest in working in digital marketing that aligns with digital humanities.
I took this class because I needed a humanities credit, but I didn’t want to choose something general and boring that had nothing to do with my major. I wanted to build a portfolio of classes so when I graduate its not just my major classes and a bunch of filler easy classes. Digital Humanities stuck out to me because, while I didn’t know what it was, I was curious to find out. I figured Digital Humanities would be a good class to accompany my marketing major and my career interests in digital marketing.
St. Louis has a famous monument known as the Gateway Arch that sits in a national park formerly known as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, but was later renamed after the Gateway Arch. The park is located near a bridge over the Mississippi River that connect Missouri to Illinois. One important question is why was the Gateway Arch build? The arch was the chosen winning design of a nationwide competition to design the memorial. Around 1933, someone envisioned that building a memorial on the riverfront would simultaneously revive the riverfront and stimulate the economy. The national park and Gateway Arch are meant to commemorate Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase and his vision for westward expansion. The Gateway Arch is an important and stunning piece of architecture that was a significant feat, taking three years to complete. Underneath the arch is a museum that covers more than 200 years’ worth of history regarding the westward expansion that the arch was built to represent.