About

THATCamp Cyprus 2011
3-4 Sept 2011, ECTS and ΕΤS Labs (Colibri and Rex), Platia Iroon (Πλατεία Ηρώων), Limassol.

What?
THATCamp (The Humanities and Technology Camp) is an open meeting where humanists and technologists of all skill levels learn and build together in sessions proposed on the spot. It is an unconference, which means that there are no presentations, and all participants work together to form the program.

The first THATCamp Cyprus will be held on Saturday and Sunday, 3-4 September 2011 in Limassol, Cyprus, at the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts, Cyprus University of Technology.

THATCamp Cyprus is committed to explore the full breadth of how Technology and the Humanities intersect and integrate, while at the same time it wishes to take advantage of its Cyprus-specificity to suggest solutions to local questions. Hosted by the Visual Sociology and Museum Studies Lab (Cyprus University of Technology, Dept. of Multimedia and Graphic Arts) THATCamp Cyprus is also interested in how new technologies and platforms are changing fundamental things about social research, museums, archives, academia and education in more general terms.

Who should attend?
Anyone interested in studying, supporting, teaching, researching, creating or otherwise shaping digital humanities, humanistic social sciences, information sciences, new media, and any other allied fields. You can be an academic, a librarian, an archivist, a developer, a writer, a student (grad or undergrad), a curator, a designer, an educator, a public historian, an archaeologist, an independent scholar, or any combination thereof (as most of us are), or even a non-humanist. You can be an expert or a newbie; as long as you have something to talk about and things you want to learn regarding the intersection and integration of the humanities and technology, this is the place to be.

The sessions may range from software demos to training sessions to discussions of research findings to half-baked rants, but please no full-blown papers. Come to THATCamp with something in mind, and a desire to share it. This could be the place to bring up a project for rapid development, to articulate a theoretical concern or get feedback on an idea, and participants are also encouraged to propose coding and co-writing sessions where the emphasis is on doing, not talking.

To apply for participation click here. The deadline is August 25th.

Links
THATCamp Cyprus Website
@cythatcamp
Facebook
tel: 25002162

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THATCamp Cyprus may include everything from developing, managing, and conveying information to users, to understanding how new media and social networks can help make meaningful connections within larger communities.
Here are the key characteristics of a THATCamp:

• It’s collaborative: there are no spectators at a THATCamp. Everyone participates, including in the task of setting an agenda or program.
• It’s informal: there are no lengthy proposals, papers, or presentations. The emphasis is on productive, collegial work or spontaneous, free-form discussion.
• It’s spontaneous and timely, with the agenda / schedule / program being entirely or partly created by all the participants during the first session of the first day, rather than weeks or months beforehand by a program committee.
• It’s productive: participants are encouraged to use session time to create, build, write, hack, and solve problems.
• It’s not-for-profit and either free or inexpensive: it’s funded by small sponsorships, donations of space and labor, and by passing the hat around to the participants.
• It’s small, having anywhere from 25 or 50 to about 150 participants: most THATCamps aim for about 75 participants.
• It’s non-hierarchical and non-disciplinary and inter-professional: THATCamps welcome graduate students, scholars, librarians, archivists, museum professionals, developers and programmers, administrators, managers, and funders as well as people from the non-profit sector, people from the for-profit sector, and interested amateurs. The topic “the humanities and technology” contains multitudes.
• It’s open and online: participants make sure to share their notes, documents, pictures, and other materials from THATCamp discussions before and after the event on the web and via social media.
• It’s fun, intellectually engaging, and a little exhausting.

What is an “unconference”?

The shortest answer is this: an unconference is a highly informal conference. Two differences are particularly notable. First, at an unconference, the program isn’t set beforehand: it’s created on the first day with the help of all the participants rather than beforehand by a program committee. Second, at an unconference, there are no presentations — all participants in an unconference are expected to talk and work with fellow participants in every session. An unconference is to a conference what a seminar is to a lecture; going to an unconference is like being a member of an improv troupe where going to a conference is (mostly) like being a member of an audience. Unconferences are also free or cheap and open to all. For more information, see Wikipedia’s entry on the unconference.
Some say that the first unconference was BarCamp, which is the model for THATCamp. Read more about BarCamp at barcamp.org, radar.oreilly.com/2005/08/bar-camp.html, and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp.

What is “technology”?

We suggest you read this brilliant article by Professor Leo Marx, American cultural historian at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: “Technology: The Emergence of a Hazardous Concept.” (Side note: those who love technology should be those who are most aware of its hazards.)

What should I propose?

That’s up to you. Sessions at THATCamp range from software demos to training sessions to discussions of research findings to half-baked rants (but please no full-blown papers or presentations; we’re not here to read or be read to). You should come to THATCamp with something in mind, and on the first day find a time, a place, and people to share it with. Once you’re at THATCamp, you may also find people with similar topics and interests to team up with for a joint session. See our page on proposing a session for more ideas.

Is THATCamp only for scholars / curators / grad students / librarians / archivists / programmers / instructional technologists / software engineers? Can scholars / curators / grad students / librarians / archivists / programmers / instructional technologists / software engineers apply?

No to the first, yes to the second. THATCamp aims for diversity of backgrounds, professions, and skill levels. Anyone who is interested in the museums, social sciences, humanities and technology should come.

Write the THATCamp Cyprus Coordinator at with questions about THATCamp or THATCamp Cyprus.