About

playtest is a gathering open to the public, focusing on the intersection of emerging media and digital humanities. Our event showcases discussions and demos led by practitioners whose work pertains to the integration of VR/AR and emerging media into humanities research, education, and public engagement. Participants include creative technologists, community scholars, artists, librarians, educators, anthropologists, archivists, social justice advocates, and journalists. Sessions will feature hands-on play-test demonstrations, moderated discussions, and workshops aimed at providing feedback on project prototypes.

playtest originated from the vision of Tahir Hemphill during his tenure as the Harisios Papamarkou Chair in Education at the John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress. The Kluge Center brings together scholars and researchers worldwide, fostering collaboration and inspiration while drawing insights from the Library's extensive resources. Hemphill's focus as Education Chair centered on exploring the intersection of electronic and traditional knowledge within the Library's context, facilitating interaction among policymakers and the public.

“Data Needs Memory describes the process of adding the qualitative back to the quantitative; with the purpose of giving life to the stories these data were meant to be in service to.”

Tahir Hemphill

“Today the stories we tell are embedded in networks and pixels instead of wampum and rivers, but they may still have the power to last through seven generations, to influence the lives of my great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren, for the people I do not yet know, and those I have only met in dreams.”

Amelia Winger-Bearskin