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18th century letters from Jamaica posted online give new insights into slavery

Historian and Senior Lecturer Dr Christer Petley has used digital technology to create an online teaching and research resource about slavery in the British Caribbean in the 18th century. Slavery and Revolution showcases the letters of a wealthy and powerful landowner in Jamaica. The website uses a blogging format to explore the world of Simon Taylor (1738-1813), a slaveholder and plantation owner who lived on the island during a period characterised by revolution, war, and imperial reform. Continue reading →

New tricks for old masters

What’s the connection between fine art and digital technologies? The University’s Kirk Martinez has been telling me about his years of work with the world’s most famous art galleries such as the Uffizi, the National Gallery and the V&A. His quest has been to find ways of producing the best-possible images of artworks through sophisticated scanning technology. It all started in 1989 with the aptly-named VASARI project. Continue reading →

Verily, forsooth – Shakespeare enters the digital world, stage left

If you liked the Hollywood movie Shakespeare in Love, you might want to find out more about theatres and society in London in those days. A colleague at the University of Southampton is behind an exciting online project that makes a wealth of documentary evidence freely available for the first time, thanks to an international research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Continue reading →

Ancient and modern. Digital ways of learning about a medieval town

I met an enthusiast for using digital technology to bring medieval literature and culture to wider audiences, who has joined us in Humanities at Southampton. Professor of English Catherine Clarke is helping local people and visitors understand more aboutChesterin medieval times – through digital mapping tools and new media. “The town has always celebrated its Roman history, and now we’re helping to explore its rich medieval heritage,” she says. Continue reading →