Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide (NCAW) is pleased to announce the continuation of our series American Art History Digitally supported by a grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art. The editors of NCAW are now accepting proposals for the final digital art history article in the series to be published in spring 2023. To be considered, projects have to focus on art and visual culture of the Americas in the long nineteenth century, from the United States War of Independence to World War I, and must expand on existing histories of art by addressing understudied topics or historically marginalized constituencies while adopting research methods that are inclusive and equitable.

Proposals also should take full advantage of the potential of digital publishing by using digital technologies in the article’s research or publication phase, or both. Strong proposals will demonstrate how the production of digital tool(s) and/or components will lead to a scholarly argument’s key insights (either the tool/component enhanced the depth of insight or made it possible) and/or will illustrate aspects of that argument in dynamic/interactive ways. NCAW encourages authors to use open source software when possible.

While by no means limited to the following, proposals might explore:

• High resolution imaging or dynamic image presentation (e.g., panoramas, zoom images, visual essays, x-ray or infrared reflectography, moving images, 3D images of art objects, annotated musical scores, annotated digital facsimiles)
• “Big data” mining and analysis (e.g., social network analysis or text mining using analytics programs like Gephi, Network Workbench)
• Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (e.g., depictions of sites, locations of objects, paths of travel, using online mapping tools like MapBox, Timemapper, Neatline)

NCAW is a pioneer in publishing digital art history. For examples of already-completed projects, see the Digital Art History and Digital Humanities page. Authors are not expected to have extensive technical expertise themselves but should be able to articulate how digital research methods and NCAW’s digital publication format connect with their research questions. Upon acceptance of a proposal authors will identify, in discussion with NCAW editors, the digital tools/software to be used. NCAW editors will assist with the development of a timeline and with guidelines for workflow, but authors will be responsible for managing their projects.

To propose a digital art history project, please submit:

A. Abstract (500 words maximum) as a Microsoft Word document detailing the scholarly content of the article, including how information gleaned from the proposed digital tool will impact the article’s interpretive claims
B. Abstract (500 words maximum) as a Microsoft Word document outlining the appearance/format of the digital tool(s) and explaining how the author plans to present the article and tool within the NCAW framework (technologies used, layout, etc.). Also provide link(s) from existing digital project(s) that resemble your proposed project functionally, aesthetically, or in the technologies used, followed by several sentences describing which elements of that project will differ from/emulate your proposed digital tool
C. Budget (1 page maximum)
D. CV

If interested contributors have an idea for a digital art history project but would like to discuss it with the editors first, we would be happy to talk with you about your ideas in advance of the deadline. Please contact Carey Gibbons, Digital Art History Editor, at dah_editor@19thc-artworldwide.org.