Another Introduction!

Posted by Lynn Ramey on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 in Research Tools.

Hello! My name is April Stevens and I am a third year graduate student in the French Department at Vanderbilt University. I am currently embarking on the first stages of preparing to write a disseration. My research focuses on the circulation of information between France and the New World during the 18th century (prior to the French Revolution). I am particularly interested in how French authors appropriated the “New World” or fictionalized versions of it to explore philosophy and the application of philosophy.

I hope that this exploration of the Digital Humanities will help me to find new methods of visualizing my research, and I think that GIS in particular could be helpful in mapping out the connections I see between the old and new worlds. Aside from my research, I am also committed to excellence in my teaching, which I think could also be greatly enhanced with DH tools. I have taught introductory language courses since 2010 here at Vanderbilt, but this semester I am also fortunate to be a TA for a literature course on the French Enlightenment. I already see many possible technologies that could help me to enhance both the language and literature courses that I teach.

Thank you!