Research Creation, Community Engagement, and Open Social Scholarship

May 1-3, 2025
Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia
Deadline for submissions: January 24 2025

At a glance

This conference will take place on the Acadia University campus in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, from May 1-3, 2025. In the spirit of openness and accessibility, there will be no conference fee for the event, and lunches on Thursday and Friday and the conference reception and banquet on the evening of Thursday, May 1 will be free of charge. Please note that the number of reservations available for the conference reception and banquet is capped at 50 (with priority given to presenters), so be sure to indicate your intentions to participate in that event when you register for the conference.

Conference registration: https://forms.gle/Kwcr1VofNqcezzRL7

Also, please be aware that Wolfville is about a 60-minute drive from the Halifax airport. If you are interested in coordinating a carpool please fill in your information here. We are actively working behind the scenes to make sure that transportation logistics will work for everyone so that your visit will be hassle-free! DHSI East, at St. Francis Xavier University, is May 5-8. St. Francis Xavier University is approximately 2.5 hours away from Acadia and carpool options will be available. For more information see https://www.stfx.ca/research/digital-humanities/dhsi-east

We are pleased to offer a single-stream conference program so that all participants will be able to attend all presentations and plenary talks. Final panel placements and more specific event details are being finalized and coming soon, but our current draft outline of the conference is as follows:

Day 1: Thursday, May 1

9:00am – 9:15am: Registration and opening remarks

9:15am – 11:00am: Paper Session 1
Chair: Laura Estill (St. FX)

  • Andrea Kampen (UBC): “Information-sharing Practices of Artist-Researchers Engaged in Research-Creation”
  • Daniel Tracy (U Illinois Urbana-Champaign): “Connecting with Publics for the Humanities: Scholar Practices Sharing Information beyond the Academy”
  • Brittany Amell (ETCL): “Engaging Platforms in Open Scholarship”

11:00am – 12:30pm: Research Creation Plenary Panel
Chair: Jon Saklofske (Acadia)

  • Natalie Loveless (U Alberta)
  • Erin Manning (Concordia)
  • Paloma Dawkins (Apocablyss)
  • Sheena Bernett (Acadia)

12:30pm – 1:30pm: Lunch

1:30pm – 3:15pm: Paper Session 2
Chairs: Jon Bath (USask) and Jon Saklofske (Acadia)

  • khadija baker (Independent Artist): “book room”
  • Perrine Gaudry (Emory U): “Visualizing and Exploring LGBTQI History and Gender Construction: Pedagogical Practices in Digital Humanities”
  • Nii Kotei Nikoi (North Carolina State U): “Towards Epistemic Redistribution: Tools for Public Scholarship”
  • Maya Dodd (FLAME U, Pune, India): “PAHA: The City as Archive, Creating Digital Affordance for Citizen History”

3:15pm – 3:30pm: Coffee Break

3:30pm – 5:15pm: Paper Session 3
Chair: Alyssa Arbuckle (CRKN)

  • Dr Lisa Ndejuru, Kristen Young, Zalikha Konate, Dr Marie-Jolie Rwigema, Samantha Nyinawumuntu, Katya Stella Assoe (Concordia): “Community Centered Knowledges: fostering Black wellness in Montreal”
  • Michelle Schwartz (Toronto Metropolitan U), Constance Crompton, (U Ottawa): “Communities Past, Community’s Future: Sustaining the LGLC Project Online”
  • Amanda Montague (Carleton U): “Creating StudioDH”
  • Kim Martin (Guelph): “Learning from Failure: Community-Engaged Learning on a Shoestring”

6:30pm – 10:00pm: Conference reception and banquet

Day 2: Friday, May 2

9:00am – 9:15am: Registration and opening remarks

9:15am – 11:00am: Paper Session 4
Chair: Constance Crompton (U Ottawa)

  • Aaron Mauro (Brock U): “An Introduction to RISK Online (Research and Information Security Kit)”
  • Ryan Boothby-Young, Brandon Stanton, Luis Meneses, and Richard Lane (Vancouver Island U): “Systematic Methods for Preserving the Digital Scholarly Infrastructure in the Humanities”
  • Gwendal Henry (Érudit): “Digital Platforms: What Role Can They Play in Open Scholarship?”
  • Britt Amell, Ray Siemens, and Graham Jensen (UVic): “A Commons Denominator: Adding Collaboration, Subtracting Barriers to Inclusive Research Creation in the Humanities and Social Sciences Commons”

11:00am – 12:30pm: Community Engagement Plenary Panel
Chair: Jon Bath (USask)

  • Padmini Ray Murray (Design Beku)
  • Diane Grant (Acadia)
  • Keith Carlson (UFV)
  • Debbie Toney (Acadia)

12:30pm – 1:30pm: Lunch

1:30pm – 3:15pm: Paper Session 5
Chair: Tanja Niemann (Érudit)

  • Stefanie Messner (Technical U Darmstadt), Viktor Illmer (Freie U Berlin), Mark Schwindt (Freie U Berlin): “Doing Literature: A Multimedial Index of Research Outputs”
  • Adebola Adedoyin and Nadja Shamess Merali (Edmonton Newcomer Centre): “Grant Writing to Connect Research and Community: Strategies and Supports that Lead to Success”
  • Brent Nelson (USask): “Sustainably Don(n)e: A Case Study for Responsible Development of Digital Assets in the Humanities”
  • Maria Pawlowska: “Indigenous Data Sovereignty in Open Scholarship: A Policy Development Case Study”

3:15pm – 3:30pm: Coffee Break

3:30pm – 5:15pm: Paper Session 6
Chair: Jon Saklofske (Acadia)

  • Amanda Grzyb (Western): “Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador: Collaborative Research with Civil War Survivors and Salvadoran Communities”
  • Reynaldo Hernandez: “Reflections on Community – University Collaborations by a Civil War Survivor and Project Co-Founder”
  • María Laura Flores Barba (Western): “Testimonies, Memory Trails and Architectural Co-Design of Memorials”
  • Zack MacDonald (Western): “Collaborative Mapping Massacres, LiDAR, and Virtual Constructions of Destroyed Villages”

Supper on your own (a list of local restaurants will be provided)

Day 3: Saturday, May 3

9:00am – 9:15am: Coffee

9:15am – 10:00am: Research Lightning Talks 1
Chair: Jon Bath (USask)

  • Susan Haigh (CARL): “Scholaris Shared Repository Service”
  • Alyssa Arbuckle (CRKN): “Humanities and Social Sciences Digital Research Infrastructure in Canada: Findings and Future Directions
  • James MacGregor (CRKN): “IIIF as Research Service for Canadian Scholars”
  • Lynne Siemens (UVic): “Ever evolving understanding of collaboration”: Year 3 of an Interdisciplinary Research Project on Open Social Scholarship
  • Ray Siemens (UVic): The Open Scholarship Press, an INKE/CAPOS Research Intervention

10:15am – 11:00am: Research Lightning Talks 2
Chair: Lynne Siemens (UVic)

  • Laura Estill (St. FX): “Is Online and Open Enough? Digital Editions of Dr. Faustus”
  • Britt Amell and Graham Jensen (UVic): “Experiments in AI in the Humanities and Social Sciences Commons”
  • Jon Bath (USask): “Supporting and Preserving Research Creation Through Open Scholarship”
  • Mariya Maistrovskaya (PKP): “Digital Accessibility: Prioritizing Openness in the Age of Uncertainty”
  • John Maxwell (Simon Fraser): “An Open Social Scholarship Renaissance? Prototyping, Craft, and Scale”
  • Susan Brown (Guelph): “Linking Ahead through Reciprocal Collaboration”

11:00am – 11:30am: Open Scholarship Award Winners Showcase
Chairs: Jon Saklofske (Acadia) and Jon Bath (USask)

  • Stefano Morello (CUNY): “East Bay Punk Digital Archive”

11:30am – 1:00pm: Lunch on your own (Wolfville Farmer’s Market)

1:00pm – 2:30pm: Generative AI, LLMs, and Knowledge Structures Panel
Chair: Ray Siemens (UVic)

  • Constance Crompton (Ottawa): “Previous Generations’ Texts and Next Generation LLMs: What are we Training on, and What for?”
  • James MacGregor (CRKN): “History as data, people as infrastructure, and some hopes and fears for the future that is already here”
  • Aaron Mauro (Brock U): “‘We have no moat’: Contributing to Ethical AI Ecosystems”
  • Brittany Amell (ETCL): “Open Scholarship and AI: A Lightning Response and Highlights Reel”

2:30pm – 5:00pm: INKE partnership meetings

Accommodation Information

There are a number of wonderful accommodation options available in Wolfville for conference attendees. We’ve tried to cover a range of budget options in the following list, and have made arrangements with a few venues to secure specific conference rates (see highlighted listings below). Check Airbnb and VRBO for additional accommodation possibilities, but please be aware of proximity to Acadia’s campus if you aren’t renting a vehicle. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email the local conference organizer, Jon Saklofske, at jon.saklofske(at)acadiau.ca

Budget option

Acadia residence dorms

Use this link to book: https://acadiau.starrezhousing.com/StarRezPortalXConferences/5648EB41/21/127/Welcome_to_Acadia__-Welcome_to_Events_Ac?UrlToken=1079024C

Use the code INKE when booking these available rooms:

  • Classic one single bed: $70 +HST
  • Classic two single bed: $105 +HST
  • Classic one double bed: $105 +HST

Acadia residence accommodations provides linens, towels, pillows, and bar soap in every room. The bathrooms are shared in the hallway but they are private as they only accommodate one person at a time.

Within Walking Distance to Campus

1) Blomidon Inn

https://www.blomidon.ns.ca/
Conference rate: $159/night + HST (between April 30 and May 4)

  • To secure the conference rate and book your stay, please email:
    innkeeper@blomidon.ns.ca or call this toll free number (1-800-565-2291
    extension 0) for reservations
  • Please mention INKE when booking to secure the conference rates for rooms

2) Tattingstone Inn

https://www.tattingstoneinn.com/

  • Regular rates: $189-$269/night + tax

3) Gingerbread House Inn

https://gingerbreadhouse.ca/

  • Regular rates: $140-$200/night + tax

4) Hotel Wolfville (Premium Accommodation)

https://www.hotelwolfville.com/

  • Limited availability

Within a Short Drive to Campus

Old Orchard Inn

Old Orchard Inn:
https://oldorchardinn.com/
Conference Rates: (between April 30 and May 4)

  • $189/night for single/double occupancy for either 1 Queen or 2 double beds & $209/night for 1 king bed
  • Note: All rooms are subject to applicable fees/taxes ($5 sustainable resort fee/night
    & 15% HST/night.
    • Book using conference group code: INKE
    • Book before March 19, 2025 to secure conference rate
  • To book: call (toll free reservation # 1(800) 561-8090), and mention the group code
    INKE when making reservations to get the special group rate

NOTE: Transportation to Acadia from the Old Orchard Inn will be necessary as it’s not
within walking distance of the University. We will try to organize carpool options.

Call for papers

This conference will bring together key practitioners in research creation, open social scholarship, and community engagement to encourage broad and inclusive conversations about centring, empowering, and serving communities through humanities research that focuses on inclusive, generous processes. It will also play host to the 12th Implementing New Knowledge Environments (INKE) Partnership annual gathering.

Humanities scholarship is traditionally and problematically disconnected from selfless commitments to creativity and community. However, a number of innovative research approaches work against such conventionally exclusive perceptions and practices. For example, research creation involves the use of artistic practices to ask questions and explore possibilities, to reflect and reveal our world back to ourselves, and to help us imagine ourselves otherwise. Additionally, radical community engagement practices feature researchers who generously, humbly, and respectfully work with and within community-led initiatives instead of leading, guiding, or exclusively determining such projects. Both of these approaches foreground and expand upon open social scholarship practices, which are motivated by a desire to shift our scholarly habits away from insularity, exclusivity, and self-referentiality toward inclusive accessibility.

This conference is a bold attempt to imagine a larger framework and community of open researchers, and to productively encourage diverse and innovative communities to engage their collaborative potential toward answering the following questions:

  • How do we include and engage more people in creative humanities scholarship that serves their needs and the needs of others?
  • In what ways can we offer our critical skills and strengths as academics to community-led initiatives?
  • How can different kinds of creative research practices promote collaborative and inclusive ways of understanding each other?

We invite proposals that address these and other issues pertinent to research in the area, and are open to considering proposals for other types of presentations as well. Proposals should specify whether you are planning for a 20-minute presentation or 5-minute lightning talk, and must contain a title, an abstract (of approximately 250 words, plus list of works cited), and the names, affiliations, and website URLs of presenters. Please send proposals on or before 24 January 2025 using this form: https://forms.gle/hbdbKGvY3aPvzUtr5

Research Creation, Community Engagement and Open Social Scholarship is aligned with the Community Cluster of the INKE Partnership (including its support by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; https://inke.ca) and generously supported by Acadia University.

This event is organized by Jon Saklofske (Acadia) and Jon Bath (USask), co-leads of the INKE Community Cluster (https://inke.ca/activity-clusters/#community). Please reach out to them with any questions at jon.saklofske@acadiau.ca