Digital Technology and Culture

A blog for students and friends of Washington State University Vancouver's Digital Technology and Culture Program

DTC FACULTY WILL MENTOR VISITING FULBRIGHT RESEARCHER

Dr. John F. Barber, faculty member of the Digital Technology and Culture program at Washington State University Vancouver, will mentor and supervise a visiting international Fulbright researcher beginning Fall 2008.

Nataliya Shpylova, a Ukrainian graduate student, will work with Barber to pursue research regarding American author Richard Brautigan and the literature of the 1960s.

Shyplova's arrival was announced by the Institute of International Education (IIE), the world's largest independent international educational organization. Among its 200 programs, IIE handles visiting international Fulbright Scholars and Researchers.

According to Zammy Díaz Lebrón, IIE Placement Officer for the Humanities and Anthropology, Shplova specifically requested to focus her research on Richard Brautigan, an American author generally recognized as the writer most successful at capturing the spirit of the counterculture movement in San Francisco during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Barber is recognized as the leading authority on Brautigan and was chosen by the IIE to mentor and supervise Shyplova's research.

"All our efforts to locate an expert on Richard Brautigan led to Dr. Barber at Washington State University Vancouver," said Lebrón. "His research website, his publications, and conference presentations position him as the leading international research authority on Richard Brautigan. We are quite pleased he has accepted our offer and with this association."

Barber's research website, "Brautigan Bibliography and Archive" (www.brautigan.net) is recognized as the world's leading resource for information about Richard Brautigan, his life, and writings. Within the website, Barber has gathered and categorized far-flung, unavailable, and often previously unknown research and ethnographical materials. The website, built and maintained by Barber, experiments with the immediate publication of scholarly research as well as ergonomic usability and interface designs for multiple overlays of information sources.

Richard Gary Brautigan (1935-1984) was born in Tacoma, Washington, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Brautigan's earliest publications were in the Portland, Oregon, newspapers. His grandmother lived in St. Helens, Oregon. He moved to San Francisco, where, during the 1960s, he achieved international fame with publication of his best-known novel, Trout Fishing in America. Brautigan wrote nine other novels, ten collections of poetry, two collections of short stories, and recorded a record album of him reading his poems, short stories, and selections from his novels.

"Researchers always wonder whether their work will be noticed, and if it is, whether it will be found worthy," said Barber. "I am quite pleased and honored to be selected as a research mentor and supervisor for Ms. Shyplova. I believe this is the first ever association between WSUV and the Fulbright Scholar program and I am especially pleased that this new connection speaks so well to the striving by the DTC program for greater diversity on this campus."

Barber has worked previously with several other international researchers and translators focusing on Brautigan. "I have relationships with scholars, researchers, and translators in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Romania, Sweden, Spain, Japan, and Iran," said Barber. "As more research interest is focused on the literary, cultural, and social movements of the 1960s, Brautigan is increasingly of interest," said Barber.

Shpylova will arrive at WSUV in September and begin her research with Barber.

posted by: grigar at 20:24 | link | comments |

Comments: