Deadlines
Abstract Submission – April 15, 2020 (issue 1) or August 15, 2020 (issue 2)
Abstract acceptance – April 30, 2020 (issue 1) or August 30, 2020 (issue 2)
Articles Submission – July 15, 2020 (issue 1) or December 15, 2020 (issue 2)
Prospective publication – December 2020 (issue 1) and June 2021 (issue 2)
Call for Papers | 2020 Topic: Fusions
magazén is looking for contributors to its 2020 inaugural volume entitled “Fusions”, which shall devote two semestral issues of the journal to the intertwining landscape emerging from the recent development of digital and public humanities. As a matter of facts, in the last two decades much effort was placed in defining separate disciplinary fields, in order to canonise and validate the use of digital methodologies or public approaches in the specific subsets of the humanities. Such is for instance the case of Digital Art History, which is still focused on the definition of its own research scope, while trying to legitimise the adoption of big data analysis for art historical knowledge (iconographic comparison, image matching, material analysis, etc.) as well as establishing best practices in digital archiving systems specifically for the arts. A similar development may be traced in Digital Textual Scholarship where a variety of scholarly approaches created a wide range of standards for visual and critical representation and developed a vast array of digital methods and means for palaeographic, genetic, stylistic, linguistic and semantic analysis of texts and documents. As far as archaeology is concerned, the extensive use of digital tools (GIS, spatial analysis, 3D modelling, network analysis, simulation, image analysis, etc.) significantly expanded the understanding of the human past and unlocked new paths for archaeological enquiry and dissemination, such that all archaeologists today are “digital” in their own right. Eventually, the relationship between public and digital history recently occupied scholars, since the process of digitisation of primary and secondary sources particularly challenged historians’ traditional approaches and methods of research, analysis, communication, and dissemination.
However, evidence suggests that digital and public challenges facing singular disciplines are actually common to the entire field of the humanities, thus favouring a cross-disciplinary approach rather than thematic isolation. Indeed, the impact of digitisation and public involvement offered a unique opportunity to the humanities: a window for experimentation with merged methodologies, blended sharing practices, joined representation modes, interpenetrated material research. In this process new actors, factors and agents emerged that are about to consolidate today’s landscape in the digital and public humanities, although still on the search for standards and best practices that could suite the entire field.
For its inaugural volume magazén is set to examine in two semestral issues the concept of “fusions” as the very backbone of recent developments in the realm of digital and public humanities. The term embraces every possible kind of merger, interrelation, joint, blend, interpenetration, interdependency, cross-contamination that affected or still informs the processes, approaches, and practices of research in this wider field. Scholars are particularly invited to submit contributions that span from theoretical debates to methodological reflections, also comprising the examination of particular case studies. Engaging with an open concept of “fusions”, proposals may address the following transversal domains and their subcategories:
Arising from a research centre devoted to digital and public humanities, the chosen topic may be interpreted from different perspectives, hence embracing a broad range of theoretical and methodological approaches. The journal welcomes proposals by scholars from a variety of disciplines in the humanities that comprise Digital Textual Scholarship, Digital and Public Art History, Digital and Public History, Digital Cultural Heritage, Digital and Public Archaeology or a combination of the above. The research scope covers the widest possible chronology and typology of topics without any distinction of methodological approach, provided that it is convincingly presented and suitable to address the concept of “fusions” in the digital and public humanities. Experimental research or proposals making use of media and code will be particularly favoured, allotting special attention to articles dealing with best practices or committed to an open source policy.
For scholars interested in submitting a proposal, please write an abstract of no more than 200 words together with a short biographical note and the provisional title of the paper. All materials should be sent by April 15, 2020 (for issue 1) or August 15, 2020 (for issue 2) via email (subject: “magazen 2020 – Call for Papers”) to the editorial board at the following address: magazen@unive.it. Notice of selection will be given to authors within two weeks from submission deadline.
Finalised contributions are expected to be 6,000-9,000 words long (notes and bibliography included) and will undergo double blind peer review. Accepted languages are Italian and English, though all texts must have an English abstract and stick to the ‘Editorial Guidelines’ of Edizioni Ca’ Foscari. Texts that should not comply with editorial guidelines will not be accepted. Please note that the author must secure all copyright permissions (reproduction costs included) for images and other media.
The deadline for all accepted articles is July 15, 2020 and final publication of the first issue is planned by December 2020, while the second issue will be due in June 2021.
For further details please contact the editorial board (magazen@unive.it).