Strategic Visions and Tactical Realities on the Frontlines of Digital Humanities: Russia’s Great War & Revolution

Poster Session

Palmer, Scott. Professor of History, Western Illinois University;
Perkins, Jonathan. Director, Ermal Garinger Academic Resource Center, University of Kansas

Title: Strategic Visions and Tactical Realities on the Frontlines of Digital Humanities: Russia’s Great War & Revolution

Abstract: For most of the twentieth century Russia’s involvement in the First World War was a historical afterthought. Overshadowed by the Bolshevik revolution, Civil War, and consolidation of power, Europe’s “Great War” took a back seat within professional scholarship to explanations of the origins and rise of Soviet Communism. In recent years, however, a new generation of researchers has begun to re-examine and re-evaluate the wartime experience. Buttressed by new archival findings, they have begun to analyze and represent Russia’s Great War not as a prelude to “Red October,” but as the first in a chain of events that transformed Eurasia and much of the world.

Russia’s Great War and Revolution, 1914-1922: The Centennial Re-appraisal (RGWR) is at the forefront of these investigative efforts. A decade-long multinational undertaking involving more than 300 scholars and graduate students from around the globe, RGWR aims to fundamentally transform our understanding of Russia’s “continuum of crisis” during the years 1914-1922. RGWR’s companion website (russiasgreatwar.org) aims to integrate advanced scholarly research with new digitized content and innovative multimedia applications to provide visitors with an interactive environment for exploring the cataclysmic events that gripped Eurasia at the outset of the twentieth century. Developed and housed at the University of Kansas, the ongoing digital humanities initiative is jointly overseen by its Director, Dr. Scott W. Palmer (Professor of History, Western Illinois University), and Project Manager, Dr. Jonathan Perkins (Director of EGARC, University of Kansas).

In their poster, Palmer and Perkins will share with conference participants their experiences in conceiving, designing, and managing russiasgreatwar.org with particular emphasis on the challenges involved in implementing a large digital humanities initiative in light of competing project agendas and limited resources.