Data Historian to Discuss Future of Quantitative Humanities Feb. 13

February 7, 2011 — Intellectual historian Daniel Rosenberg will visit the University of Virginia on Monday as part of the Spring 2012 Digital Humanities Speaker Series. He will speak at 3 p.m. in the Harrison/Small Auditorium, and a reception will follow.

Rosenberg's talk, "Data Before the Fact: The Past and Future of the Quantitative Humanities," examines the question of where "data" comes from. In it, he will explore the development of the modern concept of data since the 17th century.

Rosenberg will show how the idea of data emerged from theological and mathematical language to take on the modern sense of quantifiable information and examine the development of new, aggregate ways of thinking about the history of concepts, according to event organizers.

Rosenberg is an associate dean and associate professor of history in the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon. His past work includes studies of the history of the timeline ("Cartographies of Time: A History of the Timeline," Princeton Architectural Press, 2010) and a wide assortment of essays on subjects including Jello-O, hypertext and idleness.

The Digital Humanities Speaker Series is a collaborative effort by the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, SHANTI and the U.Va. Library Scholars' Lab.

— By Rob Seal