My first DHSI

It was June
Twenty-ten
I still think of those days now and then
My first DHSI 1
And the cluster housing 2

Start at eight
Grab caffeine
Read some tweets from jotis13 3
Pass the ferns, spot a deer 4
Leaving cluster housing

And I started to learn
How to program in R 5
Trying all the commands allowed
When I finally got it installed
I was so proud

And the class carried on
With an expert to help me along
But I knew even then
(If I got the funding)
I’d come back again.

(spoken) You’re making me feel I was there too.
Maybe you were. Make it part of your story

My first DHSI
It was hot, not a cloud in the sky
Then a crow caught my eye
Coming from MacLaurin 6

He was black
Not too clean
There were trees, but he dodged in between
Yes, he made himself seen
Coming from MacLaurin.

Then he spied the Nanaimo bar next to my cup 7
And he started to hop towards–
So I stuffed the last piece in my mouth
And then he cawed

(spoken) I didn’t tell you that
You didn’t have to. I remember!

DHSI was done
With my laptop in hand I was gone
But I knew even then
(If I got the funding)
I’d come back again.

(spoken) Alyssa 8

Notes

1. The Digital Humanities Summer Institute, a training event for people working in the Digital Humanties, has been held annually at the University of Victoria, BC, Canada since 2001. See https://dhsi.org, accessed 10 June 2022. Back to text
2. Participants usually stay in on-campus accommodation. Cluster housing units have four bedrooms, and participants often advertise for housemates befire DHSI starts. See https://dhsi.org/accommodation, accessed 10 June 2022. Back to text
3. Dr Jessica Otis (Twitter handle @jotis13) as well as being a prolific DHSI tweeter has also analysed patterns of tweeting during DHSI. See https://jessicaotis.com/digital-humanities/rise-and-fall-of-the-dhsi-twitterati/, accessed 10 June 2022. Back to text
4. Various flora and fauna can be spotted on campus. Previous DHSI participants have made Twitter accounts for @DHSI_fern, @DHSI_Deer, @DHSIPinecone, @DHSI_Bunny, @DHSI_Raven, and @DHSI_Crow, among others. Back to text
5. R is a programming language and environment optimised for statistical analysis and producing graphs. See https://www.r-project.org/, accessed 10 June 2022. Back to text
6. "So I was walking away from MacLaurin, & this dude flew past me from behind…almost as if they were coming from MacLaurin too.… It’s @dhsi_crow—they *were* in the auditorium! #DHSI19", Tweet from Maria Chappell (@MariaAChappell), 15 June 2019, https://twitter.com/MariaAChappell/status/1139645641297190912, accessed 10 June 2022 Back to text
7. A quintessentially Canadian three-layer slice. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanaimo_bar, accessed 10 June 2022. Back to text
8. Alyssa Arbuckle, Co-director DHSI. See https://www.alyssaarbuckle.com/ Back to text