Asian Humanities

In concert with members of the EALAC department, CCNMTL is developing a digital library of multimedia resources to be incorporated into Web sites for teachers of the Major Cultures division of the Core. Together, we are preparing maps, slideshows, glossaries, audio files of language and music clips, and annotated scrolls for classroom presentation and online study. Each faculty partner focuses upon a specialty area for which to gather assets and partner with CCNMTL to construct resources, which are then available for use in the online syllabi of other instructors in the Major Cultures program. We work with these faculty in order to develop robust, model sites, integrating bulletin boards and designing assignments to take advantage of the new media resources.

Asian Topics

Asian Topics is a joint project of the East Asian Curriculum Project (EACP), for teachers and students at the pre-collegiate level, and the Project on Asia in the Core Curriculum, for teachers and students at the undergraduate level. It is designed to be a digital library of multimedia presentations that bring leading scholar-teachers in Asian studies, from Columbia and other institutions, into classrooms, libraries, and homes, speaking on topics in Asian literature, history, religion, and contemporary society. The Topics are interdisciplinary and draw on Columbia’s long experience in the intellectual design and production of content materials on Asia for teachers.

Each Topic features a cameo, audio-visual presentation by a leading scholar-teacher designed to engage the teacher or student new to the study of Asia with the Topic he has chosen to explore. Each entry also provides bibliography, background essays, other Web links, and curricular links for the viewer to pursue the topic in more depth. The site is designed to provide a “first-look” on the Topic for teachers who come to the Web to gain background on a new subject they plan to introduce in class and for students seeking initial direction for a research report.

CCNMTL and AcIS have provided the technical infrastructure and technical direction for the project. CCNMTL is also processing the numerous video and audio clips, encoding them for Web delivery and archiving the digital versions.

Asian Topics Web site

Epistolae

The Epistolae Project serves as a model of an online repository for a large amount of annotated, text-based content. The database includes full search capabilities and an interface conducive for study, scholarship, and presentation. The Epistolae Project was founded in order to catalog and present he culminating work of Dr. Joan Ferrante. Professor Ferrante has translated and annotated approximately 1,500 letters from Latin into English. These letters originate from the medieval period between 400 and 1300 AD, and were exclusively written to or by women. The project is designed to allow for the future addition of translations as more scholars add to the resource.

Lehman Letters

The Lehman Center at Columbia University houses the archives of the late New York Senator, and one of its most interesting features is approximately 600 documents relating to McCarthyism and Lehman's position on this critical issue of recent American history. One-hundred original letters, many of which were written to Senator Lehman by his constituents, have been scanned, transcribed and placed into a searchable database to provide easy access to these primary historical sources that give the pros and cons of the efforts of Senator McCarthy to expose the Communist threat in 1950s America.

Music Humanities: Online Music Reserves

A compilation of titles from the Music & Arts Library are encoded for Web delivery and for use by all Music Humanities students. A Web page is created for each title that provides easy access to all tracks and accompanying texts, such are lyrics, when available. Over 50 different titles have been compiled, providing instant access via the network to all Music Humanities students and a readily available source of music for the creation of Virtual Tape by faculty.

The Online Music Reserves Web site

Music Humanities: The Sonic Glossary

The Sonic Glossary is an innovative teaching and study tool for music appreciation developed by Professor Ian Bent and CCNMTL. The Sonic Glossary serves as a model of a learning environment that defines concepts visually, textually and aurally. This change in the way concepts are defined through the creative combination of text, voice, pictures, graphic images, animations, and musical sound situates concepts in a larger context than possible through a text based glossary alone. This Web based resource is complementary with the Music Humanities Online Reserves and Virtual Tape projects.

The Sonic Glossary Web site (restricted access)
Showcase: The Sonic Glossary

Music Humanities: Virtual Tape Project

A Virtual Tape is an online emulation of a physical cassette tape which had traditionally been created for student taking Music Humanities. Each such tape is designed specially for the students in a particular section. While the student can use it just like a cassette in your walkman, to hear piece after piece continuously, the ability to access selections randomly, to listen to one selection, or to study a selection in detail provides added benefits. Some VTs also offer lyrics, translations, and historical/analytical notes. Currently we have about 15 active virtual tapes per semester, with about 25 different virtual tapes completed.

The Virtual Tape Project Web site