Uta Hinrichs is currently representing SACHI at the IEEE VIS conference in Phoenix, Arizona. If you are at IEEE VIS this week, too, come and say “hi” (look for the pink hair) and hear about the cool visualization work happening at SACHI. Find some of the activities Uta is involved in at the conference below, including the VIS4DH workshop, a tutorial on Analyzing Qualitative Data, and a Panel on Reflection on Reflection in Design Studies.

VIS4DH Workshop

Uta Hinrichs will give the keynote at the 2nd IEEE VIS Workshop on Visualizing for the Digital Humanities:
Sandcastles & Speculative Practices: Toward Research Thinking & Cross-disciplinary Discourse through Visualization in Digital Humanities
In this talk I will examine the role that visualization can play as part of (digital) humanities research and related cross-disciplinary collaborations. While the potential of visualization to facilitate humanities research practices is widely acknowledged, the predominant terminology used to describe visualizations in this context focuses on their use as a means to an end: we create visualization “tools” that then can be applied to (hopefully) facilitate the exploration of humanities research questions or the communication of insights and discoveries. This narrow perspective can hamper the recognition of rich, but unexpected discoveries that are born out of synergies emerging as part of collaborations between visualization and humanities researchers, but that may not align with the initial research goals.
What if we consider visualization in DH as “sandcastles” – idiosyncratic, transient structures that, in the process of their construction, facilitate the exploration of research questions, and, in their final stage, reflect detours and lessons learned?
Drawing from previous case studies and theory, I will illustrate this metaphor further, and make a case for a more holistic approach to cross-disciplinary knowledge generation that embraces visualization as (1) a dynamic interdisciplinary process where speculation and re-interpretation advance knowledge in all disciplines involved, (2) a mediator of ideas and theories within and across disciplines and (3) an aesthetic provocation to elicit critical insights, interpretation, speculation and discussions within and beyond scholarly audiences.
Uta also has a paper at the workshop promoting a discussion around collaborative styles at the intersection of humanities and visualization research:
Risking the Drift! Stretching Disciplinary Boundaries through Critical Collaborations between the Humanities and Visualization
Uta Hinrichs, Mennatallah El-Assady, Adam James Bradley, Stefania Forlini and Christopher Collins [paper]

Reflection on Reflection in Design Studies Panel

Uta will be a panelist on the panel “Reflection on Reflection in Design Studies“, organized by Jason Dykes and Miriah Meyer which will be discussing good practices and methodologies in design studies.

Analyzing Qualitative Data Tutorial

Uta is also co-organizing a tutorial on Analyzing Qualitative Data, together with colleagues from Tableau and the University of Calgary.
The tutorial is focusing on the basic methods for analyzing qualitative data using a mixture of talks and hands-on activities. In particular we will consider closed and open coding as well as clustering and categorizing coded data. After completing this tutorial, attendees will have a richer understanding of the benefits and challenges of qualitative empirical research and, more specifically, how to analyze qualitative data.