Joseph Nugent with some of the student creators of a digital guide to 'Making It Irish' at the McMullen Museum. Clockwise from top right: Nugent, John McElearney; Ryan Reede; Patrick Synan and Kaitlin Astrella. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Associate Professor of the Practice Joseph Nugent and a group of students have added an extra dimension to the McMullen Museum of Art鈥檚 new exhibition: an interactive digital guide that provides historical, social and artistic background to the items on display.
The guide is loaded on iPads and iBooks that are available to museum visitors who come to see 鈥�.鈥� The exhibition explores how Ireland鈥檚 Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th century helped shape Ireland鈥檚 post-colonial transition.
Using the guide, a visitor can track the geographic movement of an exhibition item over time, and the nature and degree of its influence on Irish society; or examine an object in greater visual detail. Audio and video clips 鈥� including interviews with writer Fintan O鈥橳oole and historian Paul Larmour, both catalogue and exhibition contributors 鈥� offer further enhancement and context. In a separate installation, visitors can experience an immersive VR (virtual reality) tour of six different medieval and contemporary sites using Oculus Rift.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great, fun journey,鈥� says Nugent鈥攁 faculty member in the English Department and Irish Studies Program鈥� of the guide, which originated as a project in his Digital Text Material Image class last spring and continued with the involvement of six undergraduates and one doctoral student, supported by a Special Digital Humanities Grant from the ILA and a fellowship from Bookbuilders of Boston.
Nugent has been a champion of digital humanities at 51茶馆: In past years, he and his students have produced an e-book guide, 鈥淒igital Dubliners,鈥� based on James Joyce鈥檚 Dubliners, and 鈥淲alking Ulysses,鈥� a multi-media tour depicting Dublin in 1922 inspired by another Joyce work, Ulysses.
He credits Vera Kreilkamp, a part-time faculty member in Irish Studies who co-curated the 鈥淢aking It Irish鈥� exhibition, with suggesting a digital guide as a project.
鈥淭his was an opportunity to do something different,鈥� Nugent explains. 鈥淭here is an increased emphasis on getting more students to come to the museum, and one way is to make use of interactive technology to complement and expand on the exhibits.鈥�
In the class last spring, Nugent gave the students an overview of periods in Irish history鈥攕uch as the late 19th and early 20th century, the Middle Ages and the Celtic Revival鈥攖hat are referenced in 鈥淢aking It Irish.鈥� Students then researched exhibition items to come up with ideas for which aspects could be developed for the guide.
Class members also collaborated on the technological end, which involved working with the iBooks Author program to integrate text with layout and design facets, and on marketing the guide.
鈥淭hey had to keep in mind that we were creating a product for a client鈥攕omething that was going to be used by the public鈥攕o it was important to pay attention to every possible detail: not only the content but the form,鈥� says Nugent.
Fortunately, he says, the students 鈥撀燽oth in the class and those in the smaller group that continued working on the project鈥攚ere up to the challenge. They included sophomores, juniors and seniors, and represented a diversity of academic interests: art history, computer science, history and English.
鈥淭hey were a dynamic group, and I took great delight in teaching them,鈥� says Nugent. 鈥淭his is the kind of project that shows the benefits of integrating humanities and technology, and it wouldn鈥檛 have been possible without their work.鈥�
Nugent鈥檚 students are equally laudatory of the project, and Nugent, for broadening their perspective.
When Kaitlin Astrella, a senior English major from Parsippany, NJ, with an interest in publishing and editing, heard about the class鈥攚hich was full by then鈥攕he 鈥渂egged鈥� Nugent to find space for her, which he did.
鈥淏efore I started working on this, I had no experience with iBooks Author and had never before designed for a 鈥榗lient,鈥� much less a museum,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ow, I can say that I designed an iBook to fit a real exhibit and that is extremely rewarding. People are going to pick up what we did and learn with it. I love having been part of making something tangible and functional. And I aspire to make books, so working on an electronic book before I even graduate just makes me feel that much more confident about helping make more books in the future.鈥�
鈥淭his was a very valuable experience: I felt like I was part of a project team,鈥� says senior Ryan Reede, a computer science major from the Los Angeles area. 鈥淭he artistic and historical elements of the class were not areas I鈥檇 necessarily delved into before, but Professor Nugent put them into a different context. I like how he pushes things forward, and helps you see the way technology can influence arts and literature, and vice-versa.鈥�
Adds Medford native and physics major John McElearney 鈥�16, 鈥淸Nugent] has this great skill in finding people and bringing them together to work effectively. I thought the idea of presenting an obscure, complex aspect of history in an accessible and engaging manner was intriguing, and I felt that even more as we continued on the project.
鈥淧erhaps the most important thing you learn is to communicate effectively, because you鈥檙e collaborating with people who have different skill sets than you do.鈥�
Sean Smith | Chronicle Editor