Brent Ameneyro – DH E-Lit Programs Assistant
Updating this Blog
The Digital Humanities Blog is being updated to include E-Lit resources and updates on my progress as SDSU’s first ever E-Lit Programs Assistant. I hope these humble blog posts will not only serve as a way of informing the current faculty and students of my work, but also as a guide for future E-Lit Programs Assistants as they navigate this landscape.
Connecting with the community
With the help of Dr. Jessica Pressman, I exchanged emails with different departments at SDSU and with English departments at other San Diego colleges. The main goals with these discussions were to introduce the E-Lit Programs Assistant role at SDSU and to invite students to contribute and collaborate.
Launching E-Lit at Los Angeles Review
I proposed a special E-Lit issue to the LAR staff and they accepted. We will begin publishing E-Lit this summer. We will begin with an inaugural special issue followed by a regular monthly publication.
Presentation in Beth Weeks’s Art and Design class
Beth Weeks is a Lecturer of Graphic Design at SDSU. She works with Poetry International to allow her students the opportunity to design poetry broadsides based on celebrated poems from the journal. I borrowed time at the start of a meeting between her class and Poetry International to present E-Lit to her students. I briefly presented E-Lit, the DH Showcase, and E-Lit Contest to Beth Weeks’s Art and Design class. This was my first opportunity to present E-Lit to students outside of the English department and I didn’t have enough resources prepared. I learned from this experience and made sure to curate material for future presentations.
First permanent E-Lit installation in the DH Center
If you haven’t already, swing by the DH center and check out SDSU’s first ever permanent electronic literature installation in the DH Center (open M-F 10-4). I created the piece titled “Luck” which is a digital poem that explores the issues and challenges related to the pandemic and the US and Mexico border. With the help of Dr. Pam Lach, the installation was brought to life at the entrance of the DH Center. The installation will be up through the end of the semester.
Intro to E-Lit Event
The E-Lit Workshop series began on March 4th with a public presentation which introduced students to electronic literature. Missed the event? Watch it now on the Digital Humanities Initiative YouTube page.
Presentation in Dr. Chris Warren’s Music and Visual Design class
Dr. Warren is an Assistant Professor in Digital Composition and Sound Design and Music Recording Technology and Audio Design Area Coordinator at SDSU. In our discussion, Dr. Warren and his students made smart connections between E-Lit and music videos like Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues and video games like Kentucky Route Zero. I’m looking forward to including his students’ work in the DH Showcase!
Presentation in Blas Falconer’s MFA poetry workshops
Blas Falconer is a Professor of Poetry at SDSU. I used this opportunity to continue the conversation I started in the E-Lit Workshop presentation on March 4th. For his classes, I curated tools that I thought would be useful for poets to begin the creative process. I focused on tools that were user friendly and accessible to break down any technology barriers that often prevent poets from creating E-Lit.