Project Members

Current Members

Principal Investigator

  • Robin Valenza

    Robin

    Associate Professor

    English Department - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [valenza at wisc dot edu]

    Bio: Robin Valenza has been at the University of Wisconsin since 2009. With a PhD from the Department of English at Stanford and a MPhil from the Computer Speech and Language Processing and Engineering and Linguistics Departments at Cambridge University, her background provides precisely the sort of mixing of the digital and the humanities that the VEP project is geared toward. Her panels and presentations have included topics as diverse as “The Asian American Graphic Novel”, “Samuel Johnson as a Linguist”, and “New Approaches to teaching Computer Science”. Her publications include Literature, Language, and the Rise of the Intellectual Disciplines in Britain, 1680-1820 and How Literature Becomes Knowledge: A Case Study.

Senior Researchers

  • Michael Lee Gleicher

    Michael

    Professor

    Department of Computer Sciences - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [gleicher at cs dot wisc dot edu]

    Site

    Bio: Michael Gleicher is a Professor in the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prof. Gleicher is founder and leader of the Department’s Computer Graphics group. His research generally revolves around the question: “How can we use our understanding of human perception and artistic traditions to improve our tools for communicating and data understanding?” He has been exploring this question in four areas: visualization (creating tools to help people make sense of complex data sets); creating better tools for the creation of images and video; creating better character animation technologies for films and games; and computational structural biology. Prof. Gleicher is an ACM Distinguished Scientist. Prior to joining the university, Prof. Gleicher was a researcher at The Autodesk Vision Technology Center and at Apple Computer’s Advanced Technology Group. He earned his Ph. D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, and holds a B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering from Duke University.

  • Jonathan Hope

    Jonathan

    Professor of Literary Linguistics

    School of Humanities - Strathclyde University, Glasgow

    Email: [jonathan dot r dot hope at strath dot ac dot uk]

    Bio: Currently a professor of Literary Linguistics at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Jonathan Hope’s research has consistently attempted to bring insights and techniques from linguistics to bear on literature. He has published Shakespeare’s Grammar, a systematic descriptive grammar of Shakespeare’s language, aimed at editors and literary scholars, and Shakespeare and Language, which represents the next step in this process, as it attempts to historicise concepts of language (now and in Shakespeare’s time).

    In the Digital Humanities, he has been working since 2003 collaboratively with Michael Witmore and researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in experimenting with the use of a computerised text analysis program, Docuscope, on Shakespeare’s texts. In 2012, he was invited by the Folger Shakespeare Library to Direct a Summer Institute in Digital Humanities, and this will be funded by the NEH in 2013. The Institute with bring 20 Renaissance scholars, at varying stages of their careers, and with varying amounts of digital humanities experience, to the Folger for three weeks, to work with an outstanding group of visiting faculty on the practicalities and, most importantly, the theorisation, of digital humanities in research into the Renaissance.

  • Michael L. Witmore

    Michael

    Director

    Folger Shakespeare Library

    Email: [mwitmore at folger dot edu]

    Bio: Currently the Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Michael Witmore was previously a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin from 2008-2011. He is a scholar of English Renaissance Studies and the author of several books about Renaissance drama, culture and intellectual life. He is an organizer for the Working Group for Digital Inquiry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and maintains a blog entitled Winedarksea (winedarksea.org), which deals with the statistical analysis of linguistic features in early modern literary texts, with an emphasis on Shakespeare, as well as philosophical issues surrounding relationships among concrete and abstract objects (e.g., texts, mathematical models of texts, decisions of editors and critics).

    Witmore earned an A.B. in English at Vassar College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. He currently has several books in progress, including Shakespeare by the Numbers and Other Tales from the Digital Frontier, with Jonathan Hope, and Wisdom and the Book of Experience. He is also textual editor of The Comedy of Errors for The Norton Shakespeare.

Graduate Student Researchers

  • Eric C. Alexander

    Eric

    Computer Science - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [ealexand at cs dot wisc dot edu]

    Site

    Bio: Eric Alexander is a PhD track student. He is experienced with Python, Java, Objective-C, PHP, C++, C#, Lisp, Mathematica, Visual Basic, HTML, MYSQL, PostgreSQL, Prolog, and MIPS. He is currently involved in a Research Assitantship with the Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI) working with laser microscope controlling software. He has also previously worked with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company as a GPS III Systems Engineering, Integration and Test (SEIT) Team Intern, and as a GPS II-R Program Intern. His other interests include ultimate frisbee, and he notably led the Carleton Gods of Plastic ultimate frisbee team to back-to-back D-III National Championships in 2009 and 2010.

  • Mattie Burkert

    Mattie

    Literary Studies - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [burkert at wisc dot edu]

    Bio: Mattie Burkert is a PhD student in Literary Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her dissertation, “Economic Market Structures and the London Theater, 1672-1763,” combines literary-historical and quantitative approaches to dramatic texts and performance records. She is currently at work on a co-authored article manuscript, “Resonance and Scale,” with Professor Mark Vareschi. Her recent presentations include “Quantifying Generic Change in Late Restoration Drama” and “Credit and the Politics of Invisibility in Nobody and Somebody and the Occupy Movement.” In summer 2013 she participated in the Digital Humanities Summer Institute at the University of Victoria and was a panelist at the Humanities Hackathon, hosted by the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the UW-Madison Center for the Humanities. She also has experience with Java.

  • Heather Froehlich

    Heather

    University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland

    Email: [heathergfroehlich at gmail dot com]

    Bio: Heather Froehlich is a PhD student in Literary Linguistic Computing at the University of Strathclyde. She is currently working to create and implement Genderscope, a tool to identify and analyze literary-linguistic features of gender in 400 early modern London plays. From 2011-2012 she was the Editor-in-chief of the University of Strathclyde’s postgraduate-run international, B-listed peer-reviewed journal, Ecloga. Her presentations include “Independent Women? Representations of gender-specific possession in two Shakespeare plays” and “Seeing Gender Roles in Early Modern Texts: Predetermining Social Relationships Through Syntax”. Her publications include “Are you a man? On Seeing Gender in Shakespeare” and “TCP-EEBO as a tool for integrating teaching and research” with Richard J. Whitt and Jonathan Hope. She is proficient in French and Old English, as well as XML and Javascript.

Graduate Student Consultants

  • Catherine DeRose

    Department of English - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [cmderose at wisc dot edu]

    Bio: Catherine DeRose is a PhD student in Literary Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a focus on nineteenth-century British literature, histories of the book and science, visual and print cultures, and digital studies. Her publications include “Reading Numbers by Numbers: Digital Studies and the Victorian Serial Novel”. Her presentations include “Counting Words and Tracking Narrators in Charles Dickens’s Bleak House” and “Imagined Spaces: Narrative Possibilities and the Role of the Viewer in Victorian Visual Culture”.

  • Alper Sarikaya

    Alper

    Computer Sciences Department - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [sarikaya at cs dot wisc dot edu]

    Site

    Bio: A second-year graduate student student in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Alper Sarikaya is interested in bringing the power of visual and parallel computation to biochemical problems and creating useful tools for their domain experts. Much of his work so far has involved the binding interfaces of proteins to ligands and inorganic surfaces. His current research interest lies in bringing the power of visual and parallel computation to biochemical problems and creating useful tools for their domain experts. He is working with Professors Mike Gleicher and Julie Mitchell on chemical similarity analysis of protein surfaces using local, multi-scale descriptors. Before coming to Madison, he spent two years at Microsoft working on their telemetry-gathering systems. Yes, sending your crash reports gets those kernel-crashes fixed! Concurrently, he helped out at UW GEMSEC with computational chemistry and scripting, and also co-advised an REU student.

  • Michael Correll

    Department of Computer Sciences - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [mcorrell at cs dot wisc dot edu]

    Site

    Bio: Michael Correll is a fourth year Computer Sciences graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently working with Dr. Michael Gleicher in the UW Graphics Group on information visualization, especially in issues related to text analytics for the humanities. He is also involved with the Digital Humanities working group. His interests include visualization, semiotics, computational humanities, and qualitative research methods. His publications include “Quantity Estimation in Visualizations of Tagged Text” with Eric Alexander and Michael Gleicher, and “What Shakespeare Taught Us About Text Visualization” with Michael Gleicher.

  • Danielle Albers

    Danielle

    Computer Sciences Department - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [dalbers at cs dot wisc dot edu]

    Site

    Bio: Danielle Albers is a PhD student in Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include data visualization, graphic design, perceptual science, computer graphics and vision, human-computer interaction, machine learning and data mining. She recently spent time in the summer of 2012 working with Google as a Software Development Intern, is experienced with Java, Python, ActionScript, C, C#, C++, SQL, XML, HTML, Ruby, Haskell, and Scheme. She also volunteers as an Assistant Coach for the Wisconsin Timberwolves Special Needs Hockey Team in Madison, and is a Graduate Mentor for the Department of Computer Sciences at the university.

Postdoctoral Consultant

  • Carrie Roy

    Carrie

    PhD. in Scandinavian Folklore

    Postdoctoral Fellow at Memorial Library - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [croy at wisc dot edu]

    Bio: Carrie Roy holds a Ph.D in Scandinavian Folklore from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a postdoctoral researcher and coordinator for the Humanities Research Bridge at UW. She earned an M.A. un Medieval Icelandic Studies from the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, and an M.A. in Scandinavian Area Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her B.A. is in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard. She received the 2012 Wisconsin Institute for Discovery Emerging Interfaces Award to pursue collaboration and exchange with researchers on a project that explores the boundaries between the arts, humanities, science, and technology. Through the program she began collaborating with the Living Environments Lab at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Her publications include “Practice Reflection: ARIS as a situated ethnography tool for folklorists” with co-author Tim Frandy, and her dissertation examined “Norse Binding Motifs and Techniques in Material Culture and Narrative Traditions”. She has also worked with for the Wisconsin Arts Board, and has developed web sites for Wisconsin Teachers of Local Culture, the Norwegian-American Folk Music Portal, University of Wisconsin-Madison Material Culture Program and Folklore Program amongst others. Her skills include a broad range of media creation and editing tools, she is a practicing artist working with wood and wool and is currently learning Processing.

Programmer

  • Joe Kohlmann

    Email: [kohlmannj at mac dot com]

    Bio: Joe Kohlmann is a computer scientist and graphic designer with a passion for commnicating ideas to people through graphical user interfaces, visualization, and written word. Recently, while working as a student assistant to the Living Environments Lab in Madison, WI, he developed an immersive ‘galaxy map’ simulation for the C6 CAVE(tm) system. He worked with alternate inputs such as EEG, Wii Fit Balance Board and EMG, assisted with research, experiments and publication of three conference papers (one pending publication), and filmed and edited videos for papers. He also diagnosed and documented CAVE system issues, designed digital object curation system, and contributed logo and brochure design. His programming skills span automation, scripting, parsing, and general work with C, Java, Python, Javascript, AppleScript, ARM ASM, and Bash shell scripting. He also has experience in graphic and web design, photography, and video production.

Undergraduate Researchers

  • Angelina Bice

    English Department - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [abice at wisc dot edu]

    Bio: Angelina Bice is a senior undergraduate student in English with a Creative Writing focus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a student assistant to the VEP project, and her current duties focus on building and maintaining the project’s web site. Her skills include high-level proficiency with Adobe Photoshop, Indesign, and Dreamweaver, as well as Audacity and Gimp. She has proficiency with HTML and CSS, and familiarity with Javascript and jQuery. She also has experience with graphic design, and has written copy for retail settings. Her interests include film, drama, and, naturally, creative writing, specifically short-form prose fiction.

  • Elizbieta Beck

    DEPARTMENT - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [address]

    Bio:

Library Contributors

  • Jim Muehlenberg

    TITLE

    DEPARTMENT - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [address]

    Bio:

  • Lee Konrad

    Lee

    Director of Technology Services

    Memorial Library - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [Contact Form]

    Bio:

  • Peter Gorman

    Peter

    Head of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center

    Memorial Library - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [Contact Form]

    Bio:

  • Bruce Barton

    Bruce

    Shared Development Group Manager

    Memorial Library - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Email: [Contact Form]

    Bio:

Past Members

Postdoctoral Fellow

  • Jason Whitt

    Jason

    Bio: Richard J. Whitt holds a Ph.D. in Germanic Linguistics from The University of California at Berkeley. His interests lie in the historical semantics and pragmatics of the Germanic languages, particularly English and German. He is particularly interested in how large and small electronic corpora can help us better investigate the histories of these languages. From 2011 to 2012, he served as Research Assistant on the VEP Project at The University of Strathclyde, working with Prof. Jonathan Hope on testing DocuScope on various 1,000 text sub-corpora of EEBO and ECCO texts. Of particular interest during this year were the issues of spelling variation and modernization, as well as DocuScope’s ability to detect genre variation within the EEBO/ECCO corpora.

Graduate Student Researchers

  • Dan

    DEPARTMENT - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Bio:

  • Susie

    DEPARTMENT - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Bio:

Undergraduate Student Researchers

  • Tim Swast

    Tim

    Computer Sciences - University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Site

    Bio: Tim Swast graduated from UW Madison in May 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. As an undergraduate research project, advised by Professor Michael Gleicher, he worked with the Visualizing English Project to evaluate techniques for processing and visualizing the frequency of word usage over time. He feels most at home when in the intersection of Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, and Art. Since 2011, Tim, has worked as a computer performance analyst for Oracle - Strategic Applications Engineering in Austin, TX. He also won the Wisconsin Idea Prize in the NEST software competition in Spring 2010 as the project leader for the One Laptop per Child - Plot project.

Consultant

  • Suguru Ishizaki

    Suguru

    Associate Professor of English

    Department of English - Carnegie Mellon University

    Bio: Suguru Ishizaki’s research focuses on developing tools for communication design. His work in the past several years has addressed problems and opportunities associated with the design of digital communication media. In his book, Improvisational Design: Continuous Responsive Digital Communication (MIT Press, 2003), he proposed a descriptive model of design—along with a series of computational experiments—that would allow designers to represent design solutions that are responsive to dynamic changes in the information recipient’s intention, in the situation, and in the information. He also explored Kinetic Typography, a study of how different situated meanings of written text emerge by expressing the text using animated forms. Recently, he has begun to work on developing a theoretical framework that would allow us to analyze how surface visual design decisions relate to rhetorical effects. He has also been collaborating with David Kaufer on rhetorical text analysis. In this project, he has been developing computational tools for analyzing rhetorical effects through surface patterns of English. The results of this collaboration have been published in Power of Words: Unveiling the Speaker and Writer’s Hidden Craft (Erlbaum, 2004), co-authored with David Kaufer, Jeff Collins, and Brian Butler. He is also a practicing interaction and visual designer.