REACH, November & December 1990 ------------------------------- Research & Educational Applications of Computers in the Humanities ----------------------------------- Newsletter of the Humanities Computing Facility of the University of California at Santa Barbara ------------------------------------------------ HCF PLANS HUNGARIAN ELECTRONIC DISCUSSION GROUP The UCSB Humanities Computing Facility is in the final stages of establishing an electronic discussion group which will serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on Hungarian issues. As soon as details are available, they will be announced in _REACH_ and posted to HUMANIST and other electronic lists. According to Llad Phillips, Associate Dean of the College of Letters and Science responsible for computerization, the development of the discussion group "is a logical step in our continuing relationship with Hungarian institutions of higher education." The discussion group will carry forward a long connection between UCSB and Hungary which goes back to the late 1970s when John Menzies, then Assistant to the Dean in the Graduate Division, joined the U.S. Foreign Service after receiving the Ph.D. from UCSB, and was soon posted to Budapest. In collaboration with Professor William Reardon of Dramatic Art, then Acting Dean of the Graduate Division and later Associate Dean of the College of Letters and Science, Menzies helped to initiate an exchange program between UCSB and Hungary which has continued vigorously to this day. Later, Professor Ursula Mahlendorf of the Department of Germanic, Oriental and Slavic Languages and Literatures, added significant support to the program during her tenure as Associate Dean in the College of Letters and Science. Over the years since, a number of Hungarian scholars, assisted by Fulbright and UCSB support, have visited the campus. Several years ago, Geza Jeszenszky, then a historian from Eotvos Lorand University, and now Minister of Foreign Affairs in Hungary, was in residence at UCSB. Currently, Tibor Frank, also a historian from Eotvos Lorand University has been a visiting faculty member. In the summer of 1990, Frank organized an international conference at UCSB on the opening of Eastern Europe. He is now planning a festival of culture and the arts for early 1991. Just recently, two UCSB faculty members, David Hamilton and David Messick, both of the Department of Psychology, made separate visits to Hungary. Messick will return in July. Anyone interested in the development of the discussion group should communicate with the coordinator of the Humanities Computing Facility: Eric Dahlin HCF1DAHL@ucsbuxa.bitnet HCF1DAHL@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu ------------------------------------------------------------ UCSB GRADUATE JOURNAL GOES ON DESKTOP The Humanities Computing Facility, using its desktop publishing equipment and capabilities, will be assisting in the production of a special issue of an interdisciplinary UCSB graduate student journal. The editors of _Thresholds_, the journal of the UCSB Graduate Students Association, announce that they are now accepting submissions for the special issue, _Thresholds: viewing culture_, and add that "This special issue of _Thresholds: viewing culture_ asks you to explore how your own work or interests interact with the surrounding world." Submissions should be made by February 1, 1991 in both printed and electronic form. Material submitted may be anywhere in length from one to twenty double spaced pages. Footnotes, if used, should be kept to a minimum. Submissions for this special issue should be sent to: Thresholds Graduate Students Association 1409 South Hall University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106 For further information, please communicate with: Lisa Phaneuf Dept. of Art History University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106 805/682-7413 (home) E-mail: 6500edce@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ FICINO, E-GROUP ON RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION Willard McCarty, Senior Fellow in the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies at Victoria University in the University of Toronto, invites interested humanists to join him in Ficino, a new electronic discussion group devoted to all aspects of the Renaissance and Reformation. McCarty says "Ficino has been named after the great Florentine Platonist, man of letters and prolific letter- writer, in order to suggest not only the historical period on which it focuses but also its intended manner." The purpose of Ficino, as McCarty adds, is ">to further lively discussion and rapid exchange of information amongst scholars with an interest in its subject areas." McCarty, the founder of the well-known electronic discussion group HUMANIST, goes on to say, "Although devoted to specific areas, Ficino is meant to be radically inclusive as well. Students of both Northern and Southern European cultures are equally welcome, as are those in distant or adjacent periods who wish to contribute their knowledge and skills to the subject matter of the seminar. All approaches and disciplines are equally relevant, but Ficino particularly encourages the interdisciplinary breadth of learning appropriate to Renaissance humanism." Anyone who submits a short biographical statement of background and interests is welcome to join. For further information on Ficino or procedures for subscribing, send an e-mail message to: Willard McCarty Editor, Ficino editor@vm.epas.utoronto.ca ------------------------------------------------------------ PHILOSOPHY GROUPS Users of electronic mail interested in discussion groups on philosophy should consider subscribing to one of the following three groups: nsp-L@rpiecs.bitnet philosop@yorkvm1.bitnet philos-L@liverpool.ac.uk Use the usual technique to subscribe. For example, send a one-line e-mail message to the address: listserv@liverpool.ac.uk containing nothing more than the following single line: subscribe philos-L your name substituting your own real name, not your e-mail address, for _your name_. You will then quickly start to receive e-mail messages from the address of the discussion group itself, which is: philos-L@liverpool.ac.uk You in turn send any of your own messages which you want to distribute to the members of the group back to that same _philos-L@liverpool.ac.uk_ discussion group address. ------------------------------------------------------------ U.K. CONFERENCE ON CALL AND HYPERMEDIA Keith Cameron of the University of Exeter has announced a call for papers for a conference on Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and Hypermedia, to be held at the University of Exeter, September 18-20, 1991. This will be the fourth conference held in Exeter on CALL. These conferences are designed to provide an opportunity for both experts as well as any other interested persons to meet and to discuss problems and progress in CALL in a relaxed atmosphere. The organizers are expecting that the conference will be well supported by international scholars. Papers on any aspect of CALL are acceptable, but those dealing with CALL and Hypermedia will be particularly welcome. Papers presented at the conference will also be considered for eventual publication in the journal _Computer Assisted Language Learning_. For further information on the conference, please communicate with: Sarah Moore CALL '91 Conference Department of French The University Exeter, EX4 4QH, U.K. ------------------------------------------------------------ UC DAVIS HOSTS CECC INTERNET WORKSHOPS The use of the important electronic research network known as the Internet will be the topic of one of the many workshops offered by the California Educational Computing Consortium (CECC), at its Spring 1991 Computing Workshops to be held on the Davis campus of the University of California from April 10-12, 1991. The first day of the CECC workshops will coincide with the annual UC Davis sponsored Instructional Technology Symposium. Also included in the program will be workshops on bibliographic management, courseware authoring, and interactive videodisk use. The California Educational Computing Consortium is a non- profit organization dedicated to the development and evaluation of computing in higher education. Membership includes the University of California system, the California State University system, California Community Colleges, and private colleges and universities. Although focused on the needs of California faculty, CECC Computing Workshops '91 is open to all. For more information on the conference please communicate with: Jeanie Banvard Computing Services University of California Davis, CA 95616 916/752-0233 ------------------------------------------------------------ ELECTRONIC FRENCH AND ITALIAN REVIEWS AT UCSB Two graduate students in the Department of French and Italian at UCSB, Charles La Via and Jonathan Walsh, have just developed an intriguing new electronic publication aimed at humanists in French and Italian studies. It's called _EROFILE_, for Electronic Reviews of French and Italian Literary Essays. "We have designed it to provide timely reviews of the latest books, articles, and essays in literary criticism, cultural studies, film studies, pedagogy, and software," say La Via and Walsh, who plan to use the techniques of electronic communication to present their readers with the very latest information in the field. The focus of _EROFILE_ is the rapid periodic electronic dissemination of collections of both solicited and unsolicited reviews submitted to the editors by external reviewers. La Via and Walsh further remark that "_EROFILE_ will also provide an open forum for comments on reviews previously published." In this way, they hope to create a continuing dialogue on a variety of issues of interest to the readership. The editors are issuing an open invitation to all individuals with appropriate qualifications in any area related to the aims of the publication to submit reviews for consideration, and will also welcome recommendations on potential reviewers. In addition, they invite editors of scholarly journals to consider sending them unpublished reviews for electronic pre-publication. The journal _Substance_ has already sent a selection to them under such an arrangement. Submissions should in all cases be forwarded by e-mail or on diskette. Send submissions, subscription requests, and questions on policy to: Charles La Via Jonathan Walsh Dept. of French & Italian University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106 erofile@ucsbuxa.bitnet ------------------------------------------------------------ EASTERN EUROPE Those interested in the opening countries of Eastern Europe should consider subscribing to one or more of the following discussion groups: rustex-L@ubvm.bitnet balt-L@ubvm.bitnet ussr-L@indycms.bitnet poland-L@ubvm.bitnet To subscribe to any of these groups, use the standard listserver subscription technique described in detail in the story on philosophy groups on page 2 of this issue. ------------------------------------------------------------ SAN FRANCISCO COMPUTER CONFERENCE The California Humanities Association, the California Classics Association, and San Francisco State University are sponsoring a conference on computers in classics and the humanities to be held at San Francisco State University on April 19-21, 1991. Included in the program will be hands-on workshops on computer uses for novices; informational sessions on various uses of computers, including their employment for administrative functions; various demonstrations and evaluations of educational software; and displays of the latest computer equipment and computer laboratory design. For information on the program and registration procedures for the conference, please communicate with: CHA-CCA 1991 Conference c/o Delia Peng, Chair 19 Seaview Drive Daly City, CA 94015 415/755-6065 ------------------------------------------------------------ POLITICAL SCIENCE DISCUSSION GROUP OPENS Humanists interested in political theory and philosophy will want to take note of a new electronic discussion group just announced by co-editors Bill Ball of the Political Science Department of the University of Missouri, Columbia, and Michael Malaby. The editors encourage participation from all fields of political science as well as related disciplines. However, as the editors note, the group "is not intended to serve as a public forum for debate over current issues in politics, as other lists already fill that niche." Its purpose is "to provide an opportunity for political scientists to present their ideas and ongoing research for discussion, to consider the directions in which the discipline is advancing, and to encourage the dissemination of new concepts in research and teaching." The editors also intend to post conference and job opening announcements, and to make a wide variety of useful files available for downloading. The address of the group is: psrt-L@umcvmb.bitnet Those interested can subscribe using the standard technique described in the item on philosophy groups on page 2 of this issue. ------------------------------------------------------------ ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION It's startling to see the rapidity with which the processes and techniques of electronic communication are beginning to influence our lives. All you need to do is to take a look at the various projects being described in this issue of _REACH_. I'm working on the development of a listserver designed to provide a readily accessible mechanism for the rapid and fluid discussion of matters Hungarian by individuals of all disciplines. Writing the story led me to think about John Menzies, who played such an important part in the creation of our exchange program. I knew him then, when I was Assistant to the Dean in the College of Letters and Science. I wrote him a long letter several days ago telling him about the formation of the Hungarian discussion group. I wonder what he'll think of it. Will he join it? Then there are the other discussion groups coming into notice, groups on philosophy, political science, Eastern European countries, and Reformation and Renaissance issues. In the last issue we mentioned the Shakespeare discussion group of Ken Steele, and, of course, behind them all is Willard McCarty's creation HUMANIST, now edited by Elaine Brennan and Allen Renear at Brown University. Electronic journals are also beginning to appear. Last month's _REACH_ described the journal of postmodern culture edited by John Unsworth at North Carolina State University. At UCSB we're also entering that field. As you'll notice in the article on page 3, two graduate students in our Department of French and Italian, Charles La Via and Jonathan Walsh, are setting up an electronic publication devoted to reviews of books and essays in French and Italian Studies. I'll have more on that project in future issues of _REACH_. Speaking of _REACH_, I'm going to start moving it in the electronic direction as well. I'll continue the print version, of course, because in large part the print newsletter is directed at the humanist who is not yet deeply involved in electronic communication. Beginnings will be modest. I'll start by making back and current issues of _REACH_ available through the use of a mysterious sounding process called "anonymous FTP." This is a technique through which distant users who have the FTP program available to them can gain access across the Internet network to a computer on the UCSB campus storing the back issues of _REACH_. They can then transfer those files, or download them, to their own computers. I'm working on setting up this process now, and hope to announce details in the next issue of _REACH_. --Eric Dahlin ------------------------------------------------------------ REACH is published six times a year by the Humanities Computing Facility of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Advisory Committee: Edward Branigan Film Studies Carol Genetti Linguistics Gunther Gottschalk Germanic, Oriental & Slavic Allan Grapard Religious Studies Barbara Harthorn Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Gerald Horne Black Studies JoAnn Kuchera-Morin Music Albert Lindemann History Francisco Lomeli Chicano Studies Ursula Mahlendorf Women's Studies Jack Murray French & Italian Michael O'Connell, Vice Chair English Giorgio Perissinotto, Chair Spanish & Portuguese Nathan Salmon Philosophy Leland Strasburg Dramatic Art John Sullivan Classics Burr Wallen Art History ------------------------------------------------------------ HCF Coordinator & Editor of REACH: Eric Dahlin Phone: 805/893-2208 HCF1DAHL@ucsbuxa.bitnet HCF1DAHL@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu ------------------------------------------------------------ REACH is produced on an Everex 386, using Microsoft Word, Version 5.0, and Xerox Ventura Publisher, Version 3.0, with camera ready copy printed on an HP LaserJet III. Printing is by UCSB Printing & Reprographic Services. ------------------------------------------------------------