Neel Smith on github Openly available work in digital classics

Everything I know about manuscripts in one minute

When I first learned about the public radio program The Academic Minute, it sounded like a joke. Summarize a complex research project in one minute? It reminded me of the Monty Python sketch in which game-show contestants have fifteen seconds to summarize the works of Proust (although without the pythonesque requirement to repeat the performance once in a swimsuit and once in evening dress).

But I believe more people should know about the important work that the Holy Cross Manuscripts, Inscriptions, and Documents Club is doing, so I had a go at it, and found it a stimulating as well as challenging exercise. (I also learned that in academia, a “minute” actually allows you about 90 seconds.)

My minute is being broadcast today, as well as being posted on line. There are some minor discrepancies between the transcription and the audio recording , but both are available on the Academic Minute website; the audio is also available from the Inside Higher Ed podcast.