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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New Web Resource: Mapping Eastern Europe
Mapping Eastern Europe is a platform intended to promote study, teaching, and research about Eastern Europe between the 13th and 17th centuries. Users can access content written by specialists in the form of historical overviews, art historical case studies, short notices about ongoing research projects, and reviews of recent books and exhibitions. This platform aims… Read more
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Visualizing Data from U.S. Redlining Past & Recent History in 200 Cities
Not Even Past: Social Vulnerability and the Legacy of Redlining visually documents formal and informal systemic practices of racial residential segregation in the U.S. during the twentieth century. Not Even Past presents maps for 200 cities, where for each city there are two maps side by side separated by a diagram. The left map shows… Read more
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Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi‹ (CVMA): New Digital Research Tools on Medieval Stained Glass
From the project announcement: The new module ‘Stained Glass in Context‘, created within the ‘Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi‘ (CVMA), is the first to offer an art historical introduction to the history of exemplary churches with important stained glass, including an interactive presentation of the windows. The CVMA plays an exceptional role in medieval research: the… Read more
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MOCA Webinar: Uncommon Commons: Who is the Public in Public Art?
Tuesday, November 17, 4pm PDT To join, RSVP here. As the global Covid-19 pandemic continues to force many of us to conduct much of our lives outdoors, we at MOCA believe that it is an opportune time to focus our programming on outdoor art in the public sphere. In doing so, we aim to call… Read more
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DH Monday: CFP: AMDC 2021: Art, Museums and Digital Cultures
The International Conference on Art, Museums and Digital Cultures (AMDC; April 22-23, 2021, Lisbon) Submission Deadline: December 21, 2020 Notification of Participation: January 25, 2021 Final Version Deadline: March 8, 2021 This conference will bring together different scientific and creative perspectives on the crossovers between information technologies and the arts. How are museums, curators and… Read more
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Webinar: Digital Architectural Archive Collections: Expanding Practices & Future Uses
About this Free Event This session by Collections and Services, Library Services, Library of Congress, and co-hosted with the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (ICAM), will explore the strengths and challenges that born-digital design files present for collecting, accessing for research, and exhibiting. Four presentations from the critical perspectives of technologists, curators, academics, and archivists… Read more