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Category: 2015 HistoryHackathon (Page 1 of 2)

The Heretics: Behind Closed Doors: A Look Inside Insane Asylums of the 19th Century

We are pleased to announce that our first place winner and HistoryHackathon award winner for Pedagogy and Digital History is The Heretics. Their project is a short documentary about insane asylums in the 19th century.

They explore the motivations of mental treatment: whether it was geared towards helping them become better or if it was a system of segregation in which people who had contrary opinions and beliefs from the social norm were separated from society. They also explore the various treatments given to patients, and focus upon the care of women, since as a power-inferior minority they represent the clearest picture of what happened behind the closed doors of these institutions.

  • Likhitha Butchireddygari
  • Christine Kinyua
  • Jules Frost
  • Meagan Stanley

Testimonials from the 2015 HistoryHackathon

We had heard of a hackathon but never in the context of historical research. We wanted to participate so we could enrich our understanding of subject matter we found interesting, and the event was a good opportunity to explore Duke’s research resources. It was enjoyable because our group’s collaboration could really drive the direction of our research, which led us to a more comprehensive understanding of our topic. We would participate again, especially now that we have a greater understanding of Duke’s infrastructure to support inquiry and research.

Jake Parker

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The Duke Chronicle Covers the HistoryHackathon

Many thanks to Rob Palmisano and the Duke Chronicle for their coverage of our event in today’s Chronicle.

At Duke’s first-ever HistoryHackathon—which occurred during a 72-hour period last weekend—undergraduate student teams created collaborative research projects using the collections at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. A panel of experts will rank the top three projects by Nov. 1 and award cash prizes to the winners. The event was designed to expose undergraduates from all disciplines to the Rubenstein collections and allow them to work with graduate students, faculty and librarians, said Ryan Poe, a history Ph.D. candidate and one of the organizers of the event.

Read more of Rob’s coverage at The Chronicle‘s website

As a slight correction, the Rubenstein Library holds 10,000 manuscript collections (comprising over 17 million documents) and 350,000 rare books! Wow!

Food!

During the 2015 event we had a host of food options, from boxed lunches, to fruits and nuts, to pizza and lasagna! We did our best to make sure our History Hackers did not go hungry while researching and creating their projects.

Breakfast for Sunday morning.

Breakfast for Sunday morning.

Carbs and greens for the final push.

Carbs and greens for the final push.

Project Submission Form

Hackathoners, your projects are now available for submission! Please submit your project via our Project Submission Form. Please follow all of the directions!

You must:

  1. Fully complete the project submission form
  2. Enter correct names and email addresses for each team member
  3. Then email your project to HistoryHackathon@Duke.edu with the subject “HistoryHackathon Submission: (Your Team Name Here)”

If one or more of these steps is not followed, your team members may not be properly paid or your project might not be able to be judged.

Projects are due by 11pm , Sunday, October 25!

Saturday Action Shots

Our teams are hard at work planning and researching!

Madeleine Roberts and Ofir  Golan looking at post cards from the Rubenstein Special Collections.

Madeleine Roberts and Ofir Golan looking at post cards from the Rubenstein Special Collections.

Team Heretics Member examining North Carolina state asylum documents.

Kay Zhang pages through primary sources in Rubenstein.

Kay Zhang pages through primary sources in Rubenstein.

History Hackers hard at work in Rubenstein.

History Hackers hard at work in Rubenstein.

Historical Faction works diligently discussing the history of medicine. From left to right: Cheenu Tiwari, Nidhila Masha, Heather Zhou, Mustafa Fattah.

Historical Faction works diligently discussing the history of medicine. From left to right: Cheenu Tiwari, Nidhila Masha, Heather Zhou, Mustafa Fattah.

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