Big- Data Project on 1918 Russian Flu Highlights DAC Collaboration with Humanities Researchers

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Soldiers with the Spanish flu are hospitalized inside the U. of Kentucky gym in 1918. In one prevention method examined in a new study, New Yorkers were advised to refrain from kissing “except through a handkerchief.”[/caption] An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education today highlights possibilities in interdisciplinary research between data analysts and humanities researchers. It showcases DAC's Digging into Data project as a "model-in-progress for how data-driven analysis and close reading can enhance each other". The research focuses on several questions: How did reporting on the Spanish flu spread in 1918? And how big a role did one influential person play in shaping how the outbreak was handled?