This is our third year of THATCamp at the AAR & SBL conferences. In 2013 and 2014, the participants of THATCamp were predominantly from the AAR side of the conference as were the organizers. However, with THATCamp 2015, the organizers are from both the AAR and SBL. We felt it would be more inclusive and further the conversations facilitated by THATCamp to include the SBL side of the conference. Thus, we are asking and encouraging everyone to use the hashtag #thatcampaarsbl in place of the previous one. This does not mean we cannot combine the multi-year posts as stream aggregators can pull together many hashtags into one stream. Instead it affirms that while scholars of religion may have different methodologies and perspectives in approaching the study of religion, there is a shared interest and opportunity to explore the ways technology can enhance humanities scholarship. We look forward to seeing members of both the AAR and SBL and participating in these joint conversations.

De Gruyter has been sponsoring THATCamp AAR since its very first year. We are proud to be working with scholars of DH and religion on several new projects, including our forthcoming series, “Introductions to Digital Humanities: Religion,” and a new book, Digital Humanities and Islamic & Middle East Studies, edited by Elias Muhanna, to be published in February 2016. We are currently accepting proposals in a variety of areas related to the study of religion and digital humanities. Please contact Dr. Alissa Jones Nelson for more information: Alissa.JonesNelson@degruyter.com.

In conversation with the very recent release of guidelines for the evaluation of digital scholarship by the American Historical Association, we will discuss the difficulties and possibilities of pursuing dissertations and scholarly projects that don’t fit easily into the print paradigm. I will share my own experiences with a dissertation in process as a launching point for highlighting the questions of production, evaluation, preservation, legitimation, and support for projects that are not governed by print processes. Together, we can build a few things:

1. an aggregation of targeted resources to facilitate these conversations in local academic settings,
2. a set of values for scholarship in religious studies that might be translated into media other than print, and
3. a list of recommendations for how AAR and SBL can support and encourage these emerging experimental forms of scholarship in the guild.

A primer from my dissertation space – aproximatebible.postach.io/post/otherwise-than-print-dissertations.

What if a doctoral student were to submit a project like this for a dissertation? How would we engage it, let alone evaluate it?