Things

After a long overdue vacation with my partner and son, I am back downstairs at my desk, sipping coffee and trying to organize my life and figure out what tasks to complete. This is my first week back performing research since I left Athens at the end of June. There is much to catch up on and prepare. So, for this post, I thought I would word-salad out all that needs my attention to help get my brain back into the flow of things. Let’s begin.

Thing One: A Contribution

I am contributing a small methodological section for a paper on the presentation and representations of Romulus and Remus and the founding of Rome on YouTube. For my part, I need to write about the code developed and used to scrape YouTube videos. The data collected, such as likes, subscriptions, comments, etc, was analyzed by the lead author. The code, primarily Javascript, was co-developed between DracattusDev and myself and was used to scrape all necessary data from a predetermined list of source videos in CSV format and a YouTube API key. All data was placed and deployed on Heroku.com. I hope three to four paragraphs will suffice to explain the processes and not take too long to write. The code is currently housed in a private GitHub repository and will be available, I hope, once the article is published.  

Thing Two: A PhD proposal

Yes, this damn F@kin proposal is still not completed. I had planned to write it while I was in Athens, but my research there was consuming, so I decided to put the proposal on the back burner. That said, after a meeting with my supervisor and much contemplation over the past months, the ideas for the dissertation are well-formed. I just need to write the damn thing. The research question has changed slightly and is more holistic in its scope. What I mean is that instead of focusing on what a ‘Byzantine’ coin means in a Canadian museum? I ask, “What does a ‘Byzantine’ coin mean? This allows me to incorporate much more of my research from the Athenian Agora into my dissertation while addressing how the field is beginning to reconcile with the terms Byzantine and Byzantium, the decolonization of our field, whether we need to rename the discipline and what are the consequences of such actions. After all, Byzantines did not exist.

Thing Three: Papers, Papers, and more Papers.

I have four papers to write and a poster presentation over the coming months. Each paper is for a different project, which I have not begun to think about. The poster is a collaborative project with my PhD cohort for the International Federation of Public History Conference in Luxembourg. I will not be attending in person but will be present virtually. The poster is meant to showcase the diversity and interconnectedness of our work. For the papers, I need to write a paper for Dumbarton Oaks on coins and publics (that is my initial plan), with a draft submission for the end of the year, a summary of my research at the Agora with preliminary results and thoughts, an introduction and chapter for an edited volume on Cultural Heritage Informatics (each in collaboration with my fellow editors) and a paper on Obsidian.md as a pedagogical tool to teach ancient and medieval Mediterranean archaeological research in the classroom for the American School of Overseas Research conference in November—lots to do and think about.

Thing Four: Obsidian.md

I have been extremely slack with using Obsidian.md for my personal research. However, I did create a vault for my research at the Agora. As mentioned in a previous post, I want to test the possibilities of Obsidian as some form of pseudo-data-management/analysis software. While at the Agora, I began inputting all the metadata, legacy data, and images of medieval coins recovered from the 1930s excavations into an independent Obsidian vault. I aim to create thematic links to deploy for qualitative and quantitative analysis via graph visualizations. The process has been long and tedious, and I am not close to finishing. I have approximately 250 coins to input into the vault, each with 33 pieces of metadata, various legacy descriptions and my notes. Dataview and Javascript will be used to extract data in Obsidian. At the suggestion of my supervisor, Dr. Shawn Graham, I will also use datasette.io for data analysis. I am curious about how each of them will present the results of my research.

I plan to reorganize some sections for my personal vault and address the many unfinished notes. I also plan to experiment with AI in Obsidian and incorporate Obsidian into my dissertation as a tool to distribute my research as open access. AI is everywhere, and many are beginning to use it in Obsidian either via local LLMs (Ollama) or more robust proprietary systems like OpenAI/ChatGPT.

Obsidian.md has a publish feature that allows you to create a personalized website of your vault. I am intrigued by the potential of this service for academic research. This feature is neither novel nor complicated, but I think it is an opportunity to disrupt traditional notions of the PhD dissertation. In other words, to present to the public a medium for them to visualize and access not just the published dissertation but all the data, notes and processes involved in writing a dissertation. Too ambitious? I dunno. More to come on this.

Thing Five: Jobs

As this is the final term for my SSHRC funding, I need to begin job hunting. Where to look? What to apply for? I have a TA position at the University — I hope — and possible research projects to apply to, but SSHRC was a major source of income for my research. However, the termination of this funding stream allows me to apply to other streams, which is on my to-do list over the coming month. I need a job. Does anyone have a job for me? Anyone?

Thing Six: Reading

I need to read more, not just academic/scholarly material but casual fiction. Currently, I am reading Nero by Conn IgguIden. It's a simple read so far, with the story beginning in 37 AD as Agrippina is about to give birth to a child (hmmm, I wonder who this child is?), Emperor Tiberius returns to Rome with death knocking at his door. At the same time, Caligula bides his time to strike, and so much Roman scandal. It's light, easy to digest, and intriguing to see how authors interpret Roman history for public consumption.

The other book is Ken Follett’s The Evening and the Morning. Set at the end of the 10th century in modern Great Britain, the story is the prequel to Pillars of the Earth. It is typical of Ken Follett. Multiple storylines that weave in and out of each other with excellent world-building detail. I enjoy Ken Follett, but this story is less enticing than Pillars of the Earth. Character development seems more shallow, and the plot has not grabbed me as much. Meh, maybe I need something more…Roman.

Thing Seven: Wedding Bells

Did I mention I am getting married in October? In Newfoundland. Outdoors. On the Coast of the Atlantic Ocean. IN OCTOBER. Bundle up!