"Grant us eyes, grant us eyes! Plant eyes on our brains, to cleanse our beastly idiocy!": FromSoftware's Bloodborne, and the New Frontier of the Gothic

This article will consider the ways that Bloodborne (FromSoftware, 2015) plays on a broad range of Gothic themes and conventions, utilising unusual narrative techniques and gameplay mechanics which offer the player a means by which they might experience a Gothic narrative in ways that the traditional novel format does not allow for. It will argue that Bloodborne showcases the genre's potential new frontier: converting conventions into interesting new gameplay mechanics, and letting the player experience the genre through player-led narrative and agency

Task-driven programming pedagogy in the digital humanities

In this chapter, we advocate for a task-driven approach to teaching computer programming to students of the digital humanities (DH). Our perspective is grounded first in Birnbaum's (2014) plenary address to the University of Pittsburgh Faculty Senate (Birnbaum 2014), in which he argued that coding, like writing, should be taught across the liberal arts curriculum in domain-appropriate ways. This position argued that (1) coding is not an esoteric specialization to be taught solely by computer scientists, and that (2) coding might be taught most effectively in the context of different disciplines. Here, we present a method for embedding Digital Humanities education, and more specifically programming pedagogy, within the long-standing traditions of the Humanities and argue that this approach works most effectively when new learners have access to context-specific mentorship. Our second point of reference lies with oral-proficiency-oriented (OP) foreign language pedagogy. Within an OP model, the ability to communicate in a foreign language is a skill, and the primary goal for learners who seek to acquire that skill is not an academic understanding of the grammar of a language, but, instead, the ability to function successfully within realistic contextualized human interactions. Seen from this perspective, computer-programming curricula organized around the features of the programming language might be compared to older grammar-and-translation foreign-language pedagogies. What we advocate instead is that the ability to use a programming language (programming proficiency) is best acquired in the context of performing contextualized, discipline-conscious tasks that are meaningful to humanists, an approach that has parallels to OP language learning

Curatorial Practice as Production of Visual & Spatial Knowledge: Panel Discussion, October 4, 2014

The following is a transcription of a conversation between curators of art, science, and digital data about how their practice creates knowledge in their respective fields. Drawn from Pittsburgh’s rich institutional resources, the panelists include Dan Byers, (then) Richard Armstrong Curator of Contemporary Art, Carnegie Museum of Art; Dr. Alison Langmead, Director, Visual Media Workshop, Department of History of Art and Architecture, and Assistant Professor, School of Information Scienes, University of Pittsburgh; Dr. Cynthia Morton, Associate Curator of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History; and Dr. Terry Smith, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory, University of Pittsburgh. Moderated by Nicole Scalissi, PhD candidate, Department of History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh. The panel took place as a part of Debating Visual Knowledge, a symposium organized by graduate students in Information Science and History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh, October 3-5, 2014. The transcription has been edited for clarity.Curatorial Practice as Production of Visual &amp; Spatial Knowledge</jats:p

Defining the qualitative elements of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 with regard to the marine and coastal environment in order to strengthen global efforts for marine biodiversity conservation outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Aichi Target 11 states that, “by 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes”. There has been rapid progress to meet the quantitative goal (the 10% target). However, the qualitative aspects of Aichi target 11 are less well described. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” reaffirms the quantitative element of Aichi target 11, and, through the described sub-targets, places further emphasis on the economic and social context of global development. The complexity of the language from Aichi target 11 is not mirrored in SDG 14, leading to a potential scenario where the knowledge and progress towards Aichi Target 11 will be diluted as the focus shifts to the SDGs. This paper presents current knowledge and implementation of the qualitative elements of Aichi Target 11 and highlights gaps in knowledge. We conclude that the progress made so far on describing and implementing the qualitative goals of Aichi Target 11 should be integrated into SDG 14 in order to strengthen global efforts for marine biodiversity conservation and support the broader vision for sustainable development that will “transform our world”