Presently, I am a Masters student in Digital Humanities with An Foras Feasa in Maynooth University. I graduated from Maynooth as part of the class of 2016 with a major/minor BA in History and English. I have a passion for poetry and literature, though when it comes to academia history is my love. Though I favour agricultural and medical history (and their intersection of veterinary history) I also have a taste for political history – not only the revolutionary period in Ireland, but also such varied topics as the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th president of the United States, and Doctor Salazar’s regime in Portugal. As a historian I often find that it is less the politics of a period which interests me and moreso the people as individuals.
In my spare time (of which there is not much), I write short fiction, something which I hope to continue pursuing in the future. Recently, I had a short story shortlisted (best not to say that too fast) in RTÉ’s Francis MacManus Short Story Competition 2016. The story in question, ‘End Game’, was read on the radio, and it was a very proud moment! I also listen to a great deal of music of different flavours and styles, and read anything half-interesting that catches my eye, when I’m not out living the agricultural life! I’m also in the process of working on my first novel, which still has some way to go, and take occasional landscape photographs.
If this were a lonely hearts ad, there are many more things I could mention (a fondness for crackling fires, slow dancing, and being in possession of terrible chess skills) but alas it is not and so I shall keep them to myself.
As for Digital Humanities, what drew me to it? Well, I wished to acquire some of the computer skills of which I was lacking, and I also wanted to feel as if I was putting my History degree to good use. To put it bluntly, I wanted to feel more involved in the community, while gaining a different perspective and learning some new techniques for examining sources. Am I enjoying it? Yes. It has afforded me the opportunity to meet some great people, and learn new methods of working with and preserving artefacts, be those artefacts photographs or figurines or monuments. I have also become interested in using digital technologies to analyse literary texts.
What lies in store for the writer with the passion for the past, the romantic heart, and the on-going MA? Time can only tell.
Hannah Healy on Digital Archaeology (Humanities) or archaeology (humanities), digitally?