Named after the small red sticker that once guided scholars through legacy 35mm slides, The Red Dot is here to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of visual and material research. While rooted in the University of California, Santa Barbara community, our posts are open to all.
At MIRL, we engage with art history, digital humanities, and material culture through hands-on research and archival projects. Guided by our core principles—critical engagement with visual and material culture, ethical stewardship of images and data, and innovative approaches to research and pedagogy—we work at the intersection of technology and the humanities. We are especially interested in how digital tools can expand the study of images, objects, and spaces.
Here, we’ll share insights on Digital Art History and Architectural History, highlight new image and data resources, discuss copyright and ethical considerations, and spotlight events that shape our field.
The Red Dot © 2025 is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
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FBI launches app to help identify stolen art
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has made its Nation Stolen Art File, most commonly used by law enforcement, available on mobile to the public. Private citizens and art institutions alike can now track down stolen art conveniently from their phones. On 10 April, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released an app-based version of the… Read more
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DH Monday: ENRICH Webinar: 3D Replicas and Data Ownership
ENRICH (Equity for Indigenous Research and Innovation Coordinating Hub) Webinar: 3D Replicas and Data Ownership, on April 17, 2023, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm ET / 10:00 am – 11:30 am PT. An increase in the prevalence and popularity of “digital repatriation” requires a critical analysis of Indigenous data governance. The United Nations Declaration on… Read more
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DH Monday: Conference – Reanimating Human-Machine Interaction: Reflecting on Interdisciplinary Methods (Antwerp, 6 May 23)
An intensive full day interdisciplinary symposium that brings together 3 international academic experts and a host of delegates for a discussion that intends to bridge the gap between dominant discourses in arts and humanities and creative computational practices. The goal is to foreground mixed and open methods and hybrid toolkits rooted in between the disciplines… Read more
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DH Monday: A Digital Tool Allows Users to Investigate Spatial Equity across New York City’s Communities
by Maria-Cristina Florian The Transportation Alternatives and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have initiated a new digital tool, Spatial Equity NYC, to help users understand how space is distributed and restricted across the neighborhoods of New York City. The tool asses the use of streets, sidewalks, and public spaces, as they are key factors that… Read more
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DH Monday: Webinar – The Montias Database: Exploring 17th-Century Dutch Domestic Interiors Digitally
Tuesday, March 21, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EDT / 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Live via Zoom Join the Frick Art Reference Library for lunchtime talks spotlighting how the data in The Montias Database of 17th-Century Dutch Art Inventories can be used digitally by art historians to glean new insights. About the Speakers: Weixuan Li, Post-Doctoral… Read more
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DH Monday: CFP – The Institute for Liberal Arts Digital Scholarship (ILiADS) Call for Proposals 2023
ILiADS 2023, Davidson College in North Carolina, held in person July 23-28, 2023. Call for Proposals Deadline: March 27, 2023 ILiADS offers a week-long intensive environment for collaborative project teams composed of some mix of researchers, librarians, technologists, and students to build upon established digital pedagogy or scholarship projects and/or launch new ones. To help… Read more