Cyborg Public Humanities:  The Digital-Material Exhibit and the Classroom

1. Abstract

This short presentation discusses how to incorporate a student-led, interdisciplinary, public-facing approach in the classroom. We use an example from our own experience: a “cyborg” public humanities project that blended the digital with the material, the academic with the public, and the visual with the written. Students in two literature classrooms used the science fiction collection at Texas A&M University to create digital posters accessible through QR codes and physical posters about and related to Frankenstein to celebrate the 200th anniversary of that iconic novel. The combination of digital and material components led to an interactive exhibit in Cushing Memorial Library--a polyvocal display that granted ownership to the expertise of our students. Hands-on public projects serve both students and teachers, and when we think of “cyborg” projects--neither purely digital nor material--we expand the value of the humanities outside of the traditional classroom.