Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere

Join UF alumni with advanced degrees from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for a lively discussion on how the public and digital humanities intersect with historical, archaeological, environmental, and cultural preservation efforts in Florida and the greater Southeast. Students will have the opportunity to learn about publicly engaged projects, formats, and career paths from practicing professionals across a range of roles and sectors.

Virtual Event- Register here to receive Zoom URL

Panelists and Biographies:

Diana González-Tennant, MA, RPA (Project Manager & Owner, Digital Heritage Interactive, LLC, FL)

Diana Gonzalez-Tennant graduated from the University of Florida with an MA in Anthropology in 2011. An archaeologist by training, she specializes in game design, 3D modeling, and programming interactivity for interpretation and visualization of archaeological sites. She owns and operates Digital Heritage Interactive, LLC, where she partners with other archaeologists on virtual archaeology and heritage visualization projects across the US and Caribbean. Details about projects she has worked on can be found on her company’s website at digital-heritage.net.

Dr. Leslie Kemp Poole (Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies Department, Rollins College, FL)

Dr. Leslie Kemp Poole is an environmental historian at Rollins College where she teaches a range of courses, including environmental history, environmental justice, and women and the environment. A fourth-generation Floridian, Poole’s research interests have focused on the role of women in Florida’s environmental movement and how they used grassroots activities to succeed in their agendas to save the natural world. She is the author of Saving Florida: Women’s Fight for the Environment in the Twentieth Century and her new book, a series of essay co-edited with Dr. Jack Davis of UF, was released this month: The Wilder Heart of Florida: More Writers Inspired by Florida Nature. Poole got her B.S. in Journalism and Ph.D. in History from the University of Florida.

Dr. Brad Massey (Saunders Foundation Curator of Public History, Tampa Bay History Center, FL)

Dr. Brad Massey is the Saunders Foundation Curator of Public History at the Tampa Bay History Center. His current book project, entitled State of Change: A Technological and Social History of Florida, is under contract with the University Press of Florida.

Dr. Daniel Simone (Curator, NASCAR Hall of Fame, NC)

Dr. Daniel J. Simone earned his Ph.D. in U.S. History from the University of Florida in 2009.  His dissertation, “Racing, Region, and the Environment: A History of American Motorsports” was completed under the guidance of Dr. Jack E. Davis. Before becoming Curator of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2016, Simone served as an adjunct professor at Monmouth University, where he taught environmental history and western civilization courses. Simone has delivered numerous presentations and academic papers on motorsport-related topics at universities and museums across the United States and Canada.

Moderator:

Cynthia Barnett (Environmental Journalist in Residence, UF College of Journalism and Communications)

Cynthia Barnett is an environmental author and journalist who has covered water and climate stories worldwide. She is the author of three books on water, including Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, longlisted for the National Book Award, a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing, and named among the best nonfiction books of 2015 by NPR’s Science Friday, the Boston Globe, the Tampa Bay Times, the Miami Herald and others. Her new book, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans, is out July 6th from W.W. Norton. She has also written for National Geographic, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Discover magazine, and many other publications.

This panel is free and open to an audience beyond UF graduate students.

The 2021 Graduate Public Humanities Institute has been generously cosponsored by the Hyatt and Cici Brown Professor of Florida Archaeology (Kenneth E. Sassaman), the Rothman Family Chair in the Humanities (Jack Davis), the UF Chief Diversity Officer, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School.

For questions about the Graduate Public Humanities Institute, please contact Dr. Kristen Galvin, Assistant Director for Graduate Engagement at the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, kgalvin@ufl.edu.