Mr. Schrade, you have held an Academy Professorship in Digital Humanities at Mainz University of Applied Sciences since 2017. What responsibilities does this professorship entail?
As part of the mainzed initiative, the Academy Professorship bridges the gap between basic research in the humanities at the Academy and practical methodology, research, and teaching at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. The experience has been very positive because, over the past few years, we’ve been able to develop new perspectives for Mainz as a hub—both within the degree program and through research and infrastructure projects.
A group of master’s students participated in the online hackathon as part of a course. How did that come about?
The idea for the hackathon came from Kai-Christian Bruhn. The background is that one of my courses deals with methods for creating web-based training and presentation materials. In that course, students are supposed to learn how to communicate research results digitally.
How did you find the hackathon?
The experience was very positive—it was an intense 36 hours! I thought the organizers’ preliminary planning was very well done. Everything ran through the Mattermost messaging platform. After onboarding, the teams split up across different communication channels. In the end, well over 1,000 people were actively participating, and a team of moderators was always available. It was great that expertise was also shared across projects.
What role did you take on during the hackathon?
There were essentially three roles: hackers, mentors, and moderators. Kai-Christian Bruhn and I were both there as mentors. However, the role structure was flexible. You could switch to being a hacker from time to time, which really rounded out the experience.
What was the schedule like on May 6 and 7?
The livestream started on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.; by noon, several teams had formed, and moderated activities continued until midnight. After a break to sleep, the first participants were already active early on Thursday, since they had to present their projects within 36 hours. I was particularly pleased that many of our students completed a project on their own initiative.
What were the students’ experiences like?
We discussed this very openly in the seminar: The experiences were mostly positive, such as seeing how digital workflows develop through good organization. It was also important to realize that roles must be clearly defined within a team. Where this wasn’t the case, teams fell apart. That can be frustrating, but it’s an important lesson.
How does the experience from the hackathon feed into the seminar?
We’re now focusing our experiences on the seminar’s core topic: how we can collaboratively address topics using digital methods. The hackathon served as a catalyst for this.
Will the projects—or some of them—now be completed as part of the seminar?
That’s exactly where we are right now: In the course, we’re working with open formats based on version control. Now we’re creating a so-called GitBook, a kind of web publication.
How did you personally experience the atmosphere during the hackathon?
I was pleasantly surprised by the creative and respectful interaction. In the end, 76 projects were pitched. So, my conclusion is absolutely positive!
As part of the mainzed initiative, the Academy Professorship bridges the gap between basic research in the humanities at the Academy and practical methodology, research, and teaching at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. The experience has been very positive because, over the past few years, we’ve been able to develop new perspectives for Mainz as a hub—both within the degree program and through research and infrastructure projects.
A group of master’s students participated in the online hackathon as part of a course. How did that come about?
The idea for the hackathon came from Kai-Christian Bruhn. The background is that one of my courses deals with methods for creating web-based training and presentation materials. In that course, students are supposed to learn how to communicate research results digitally.
How did you find the hackathon?
The experience was very positive—it was an intense 36 hours! I thought the organizers’ preliminary planning was very well done. Everything ran through the Mattermost messaging platform. After onboarding, the teams split up across different communication channels. In the end, well over 1,000 people were actively participating, and a team of moderators was always available. It was great that expertise was also shared across projects.
What role did you take on during the hackathon?
There were essentially three roles: hackers, mentors, and moderators. Kai-Christian Bruhn and I were both there as mentors. However, the role structure was flexible. You could switch to being a hacker from time to time, which really rounded out the experience.
What was the schedule like on May 6 and 7?
The livestream started on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.; by noon, several teams had formed, and moderated activities continued until midnight. After a break to sleep, the first participants were already active early on Thursday, since they had to present their projects within 36 hours. I was particularly pleased that many of our students completed a project on their own initiative.
What were the students’ experiences like?
We discussed this very openly in the seminar: The experiences were mostly positive, such as seeing how digital workflows develop through good organization. It was also important to realize that roles must be clearly defined within a team. Where this wasn’t the case, teams fell apart. That can be frustrating, but it’s an important lesson.
How does the experience from the hackathon feed into the seminar?
We’re now focusing our experiences on the seminar’s core topic: how we can collaboratively address topics using digital methods. The hackathon served as a catalyst for this.
Will the projects—or some of them—now be completed as part of the seminar?
That’s exactly where we are right now: In the course, we’re working with open formats based on version control. Now we’re creating a so-called GitBook, a kind of web publication.
How did you personally experience the atmosphere during the hackathon?
I was pleasantly surprised by the creative and respectful interaction. In the end, 76 projects were pitched. So, my conclusion is absolutely positive!
