New Methods of Documenting the Past: Recreating Public Preaching at Paul's Cross, London, in the Post-Reformation Period

FAIN: HD-51222-11

North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC 27695-0001)
John N. Wall (Project Director: October 2010 to August 2013)

Research to study acoustics for sermons at St. Paul's Cross using advanced modeling and acoustic algorithms.

My goal is to develop a virtual research environment for study of the performance of sermons at Paul's Cross in the churchyard of St. Paul's Cathedral, England's most important public pulpit in the early modern period, where official religious policies were defended and religious controversies of the Reformation were debated. This innovative use of digital technology will be highly multidisciplinary, combining software for architectural modeling and acoustic simulation with historic visual and textual records as well as recent archaeological evidence. We will be able to hear recordings of Paul's Cross sermons performed in its original pronunciation from various locations within the historic space and in the context of a background of extraneous noises and the hubbub of human activity, recreating the challenges both preachers and worshippers confronted in such large public gatherings.

Media Coverage

Time Machine: See and Hear John Donne Preach (Sort Of) (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Matt Shipman
Publication: The Abstract
Date: 8/30/2011
Abstract: Supported by a Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Wall is working with an international team to recreate the sights and sounds of the Paul's Cross sermon in virtual space.
URL: http://web.ncsu.edu/abstract/technology/wms-donne-time-machine/

Travel Back in Time (Virtually) to Hear John Donne Preach (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Rebecca Rosen
Publication: Atnantic Monthly Technology blog
Date: 8/31/2011
Abstract: With a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, professors John Wall and David Hill and architect Joshua Stephens are working to virtually replicate the architecture of the old St. Paul's Cathedral to recreate what early modern Londoners would have heard on that day. Their model of the structure is based on the work of John Schofield, an archaeologist who works for St. Paul's, who has surveyed the foundation of the old cathedral, which is still in the ground though partially underneath the existing cathedral.
URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/08/travel-back-in-time-virtually-to-hear-john-donne-preach/244339/

The Promise of the Digital Humanities (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Steve Kolowich
Publication: Insode Higher Education
Date: 9/28/2011
Abstract: Other projects, while less whimsical, had to do with enabling learners to “experience” historical events or places instead of reading off a page. John Wall, a professor of English at North Carolina State University, said he is trying to recreate the spatial and acoustic dynamics of a sermon in St. Paul’s Square in order to better understand the likely effectiveness of the “public preaching” that emerged as the preferred method of public relations for church and political authorities in early 17th-century London.
URL: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/09/28/national_endowment_for_the_humanities_celebrates_digital_humanities_projects#ixzz1bph8ZGSC

Recreating Sacred Space in Early Modern London (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Matt Shipman
Publication: Design Influence
Date: 11/1/2011
Abstract: College of Design faculty member David Hill has joined College of Humanities faculty member John Wall to recreate the experience of outdoor preaching in early modern London.
URL: http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/dlife/design-influence/

Virtual Paul's Cross Installation at NC State's Hunt Library (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Maurice Hunt
Publication: WRAL-TV News
Date: 6/16/2012
Abstract: Television news report on plans for installation of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project as part of hte opening of NC State's new, and technology-rich, library.
URL: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/video?id=8699497&pid=§ion=null

Amazing Space: Technology meets the Humanities (Media Coverage)
Author(s): David Hunt
Publication: RESULTS: Research, Innovation & Economic Development
Date: 4/1/2013
Abstract: Feature story on NC State's new Hunt Library, contains 2-page section on the Virtual Paul's Cross Project
URL: http://www.ncsu.edu/research/results/vol13n1/03.html

Donne To Death By Stone (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Danielle A Guimaraes
Publication: Footprints of London
Date: 1/1/2015
Abstract: Mentioned as a way to "get another angle on John Donne" with short description of site
URL: http://footprintsoflondon.com/2015/01/donne-to-death-by-stone/

History 305 Assignments and Other Resources (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Sean Smith
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Professor assigns students to look at websites including VPCP and to make notes in a blog post about what they like/don't like about the sites and what could be improved
URL: http://digital-methods.com/assignments/

Virtual Rome (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Matthew Nicholls
Publication: University of Reading
Date: 4/26/2016
Abstract: Description of VPCP and experience with site; states that he looks forward to further developments
URL: http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/virtual-rome/

Virtual Paul's Cross (Review)
Author(s):
Publication: Acentech
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Historic contextual information on VPCP and site description/interesting features; notes that it won the 2014 Digital Humanities Award for Best DH Data Visualization
URL: https://www.acentech.com/project/virtual-pauls-cross/

Searching the New Labyrinth: the Echoes of Mercutio's Banter in Paul's Cross Churchyard (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Thomas Dabbs
Publication: Academia.edu
Date: 1/1/2013
Abstract: Recently, the team at the Virtual Paul’s Cross Project has reconstructed much of St Paul’s cathedral during the early modern period. From this reconstruction and also the search capabilities of EEBO-TCP, we can now identify relationships between this area and the Shakespearean stage with far more precision than before. We still do not know precisely how books were retailed, how long they were held in stock, or how popular they actually were. Also certain significant full texts may not be available yet in a TCP search. These pitfalls noted, this talk abided by the thesis that digital resources can bring us much closer to an understanding of a lost, physical world and also to human consciousness during the early modern period.
URL: http://www.academia.edu/11322492/Searching_the_New_Labyrinth_the_Echoes_of_Mercutio_s_Banter_in_Paul_s_Cross_Churchyard

17th century landmark cathedral recreated in virtual space (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Matt Shipman
Publication: The Best Guide
Date: 11/6/2013
Abstract: A description of the contextual history, creation process, and features of the VPCP site
URL: http://guide-best.blogspot.com/2016/11/17th-century-landmark-cathedral.html

Intro to Digital History 2015 (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Listed as a supplemental material for the Intro to Digital History course at the University of Hertfordshire
URL: http://adamcrymble.org/intro-to-digital-history-2015/

Digital Scholarship Spaces: Building Communities & Enabling Collaboration (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Greg Raschke
Publication: LinkedIn
Date: 2/9/2016
Abstract: Mentioned in a presentation on collaborative digital learning interfaces to be used in scholarly settings
URL: http://www.slideshare.net/gkraschk/digital-scholarship-spaces-building-communities-enabling-collaboration

A Foray into Library Digital Publishing: The British Virginia Project at Virginia Commonwealth University (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Kevin Farley
Publication: Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Noted as "an exciting digital reconstruction" as the focus of a dispersion of power through sermons
URL: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=libraries_pubs

Virtual Paul's Cross Project (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: Shakespeare at Night
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Hyperlink to the VPCP on the side of the webpage as an "Interesting" resource
URL: https://blogs.stockton.edu/nightshakes/category/thoughtsreadings/

Exploring Digital Reconstructions: A 3D Historical Model of Piazza San Marco in Venice (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Danielle A Guimaraes
Publication: Temple University
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Mention of the VPCP as a source of inspiration for her own project
URL: https://sites.temple.edu/tudsc/2014/06/13/exploring-digital-reconstructions-a-3d-historical-model-of-piazza-san-marco-in-venice/

Guide to the St Paul’s Cathedral Archives at LMA (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: London Metropolitan Archives
Date: 10/1/2014
Abstract: Listed under "Arrangement of the Archives;" gives a short synopsis of the features of the site and the history of VPCP
URL: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/visitor-information/Documents/58-st-pauls-cathedral-archives-at-london-metropolitan-archives.pdf

Virtual Paul's Cross Project (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: Mapping Jacobean London: News
Date: 4/21/2015
Abstract: Synopsis of the features of VPCP and a brief history to give context.
URL: http://jacobeanlondon.com/news/

Prospects: The Research Commons in 2014 and Beyond (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Donald Beagle
Publication: dh+lib
Date: 1/30/2014
Abstract: Mentioned in the addendum as the Editor's Choice from Digital Humanities Now - "I would suggest exemplifies the potential importance of shared expertise and cross-disciplinary use of applications."
URL: http://acrl.ala.org/dh/2014/01/30/the-research-commons-in-2014-and-beyond/

Cultural exchanges: mapping texts, travellers, tales (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Photo renderings listed under the section "Re-imagining our sources from text to 4D" in a presentation on cultural exchanges
URL: http://dchrn.de.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/AnnaGroundwater_NMS-22.3.16.pdf

Resources: Early Modern Plays On Stage and Page (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Claire M L Bourne
Publication: Of Pilcrows
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Mentioned as research used to document, explore, and/or interpret early modern plays in performance.
URL: http://www.ofpilcrows.com/resources-early-modern-plays-page-and-stage/

Hear John Donne’s sermon of November 5th, 1622 (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: The History Blog
Date: 11/7/2013
Abstract: Historical context of John Donne's sermon, with photo and video renderings of VPCP and mention of its features
URL: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/date/2013/11/07

'This is close as you can come to visiting 17th century London': Amazing computer simulation reveals the sights and sounds of St Paul's Cathedral in 1622 (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Ellie Zolfagharifard
Publication: DailyMail.com
Date: 11/8/2013
Abstract: Summary and outline of the VPCP with pictures and videos of the renderings; notes interesting and unique aspects of the project
URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2492751/Amazing-simulation-recreates-17th-Century-London.html

St. Paul's Cathedral (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: The Tenth Knot
Date: 12/16/2015
Abstract: Discusses event of John Donne's sermon and different resources to be used to learn more about the event, mentions and outlines VPCP
URL: http://www.thetenthknot.net/part7/

John Donne Society - Awards (Review)
Publication: The John Donne Society
Date: 1/1/2013
Abstract: States VPCP received the 2013 John Donne Society Award for Distinguished Publication
URL: http://www.johndonnesociety.org/awards.html

Visualizing Shakespeare's London (Review)
Author(s): Sylvia Morris
Publication: The Shakespeare's Blog
Date: 11/1/2013
Abstract: Brief synopsis of the renderings in VPCP and features of the site in a blog post on different media outlets recreating Shakespeare's time
URL: http://theshakespeareblog.com/2013/11/visualising-shakespeares-london/

Infographic/data visualization resources (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Mary Goglio
Publication: Pinterest
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Pinned under a board titled "Infographic/data visualization resources"
URL: https://www.pinterest.com/mgoglio/infographicdata-visualization-resources/

Abstracts: Early Modern Texts: Digital Methods and Methodologies (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: Text Creation Partnership
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: A list of abstracts on Early Modern Texts: Digital Methods and Methodologies for the EEBO-TCP 2013 Conference
URL: http://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/eebotcp/conferences/conference-eebo-tcp-2013/abstracts/

Researchers re-create landmark 17th century cathedral, speech in virtual space (Review)
Author(s): Matt Shipman
Publication: phys.org
Date: 11/7/2013
Abstract: Background information on the creation of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project, what it is, and its purpose.
URL: https://phys.org/news/2013-11-re-create-landmark-17th-century-cathedral.html

Virtual Time Machine (Media Coverage)
Publication: UNC-TV
Date: 1/30/2017
Abstract: Blog post coverage of Virtual Paul's Cross Project - background, highlights, and description of what the site does
URL: http://science.unctv.org/content/virtual-time-machine

The Echo of Print: Outing Shakespeare’s Source Code at St Paul’s (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Thomas W Dabbs
Publication: JADH 2016
Date: 9/12/2016
Abstract: Talk that "examines digital platforms to be used in scholarly dogma that has previously restricted the understanding of Shakespearean drama;" Virtual Paul's Cross Project is mentioned
URL: http://conf2016.jadh.org/abstracts/s2-2/

Is the Virtual Paul’s Cross Project Good History? (Review)
Author(s): Kathryn Greenan
Publication: WordPress.com
Date: 11/27/2014
Abstract: Examines pros and cons of Virtual Paul's Cross Project and adds notes from a class discussion on its effectiveness as a solid historical source
URL: http://hist3812a.dhcworks.ca/2014/11/27/is-the-virtual-pauls-cross-project-good-history/

Acoustic Reconstruction and Preservation (Review)
Author(s): Alex Claman
Publication: Bringing the Past to Virtual Life (Course site for HIST 235, Carleton College)
Date: 2/22/2016
Abstract: Identifies the uniqueness of VPCP and a background/description on its properties and uses

On Donne in OP (Review)
Author(s): DC,
Publication: DCBlog
Date: 5/9/2013
Abstract: Summarizes goal and renderings of the site and discusses what the audience can learn from using the site
URL: http://david-crystal.blogspot.com/2013/05/on-donne-in-op.html

Website of the Week (WoW) #151: Virtual Paul’s Cross Project (Media Coverage)
Publication: MLA International Bibliography
Date: 6/24/2014
Abstract: Advertised "Website of the Week" with a short description of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project site
URL: https://mlabib.mla.hcommons.org/2014/06/23/website-of-the-week-wow-151-virtual-pauls-cross-project/

Virtual Paul's Cross (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Peter Escalante
Publication: The Calvinist International
Date: 5/9/2013
Abstract: A short advertisement of Virtual Paul's Cross Project discussing the remarkable ability to "recreate early modern contexts."
URL: https://calvinistinternational.com/2013/05/09/3611/

“Acoustical Archaeology” Allows Modern Listeners to Hear John Donne Preach in 1622 (Review)
Author(s): Matthew Azevedo
Publication: 165th Acoustical Society of America Meeting
Date: 6/7/2013
Abstract: Review, description, and historical significance of John Donne's Paul's Cross sermon through the use of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project
URL: http://acoustics.org/pressroom/httpdocs/165th/5aAAa5_Azevedo.html

Looking at the Digital Humanities (Review)
Author(s): Emma Baitz
Publication: Humanities 21
Date: 10/1/2013
Abstract: Description, review, and how-to of Virtual Paul's Cross Project.
URL: https://humanities21.com.au/2013/10/looking-at-the-digital-humanities/

Reverse Engineering of Paul's Cross Project (Review)
Author(s):
Publication: Hacking the Humanities
Date: 9/22/2015
Abstract: In-depth description and review of Virtual Paul's Cross Project and background on the creation of the site
URL: http://medhieval.com/hackinghumanities2015/uncategorized/reverse-engineering-of-pauls-cross-project/

Seeing John Donne Speak: The New Archive (No. 14) (Review)
Author(s): Henry Wiencek
Publication: Not Even Past
Date: 4/24/2014
Abstract: Advertisement and explanation of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project, as well as the history of John Donne's sermon
URL: http://notevenpast.org/seeing-john-donne-before-your-very-eyes-the-new-archive-no-14/

Paul's Cross on the St Paul's Cathedral website (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Simon Carter
Publication: St Paul's Cathedral website https://www.stpauls.co.uk/fire
Date: 6/1/2016
Abstract: Image from the Virtual Paul's Cross website included in announcement of events in recognition of the 350th anniversary Great Fire of London
URL: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/fire

Space, Place and Image in the Poetry and Prose of John Donne (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Kirsten Stirling
Publication: http://wp.unil.ch/johndonne-space/partners-links/
Date: 1/25/2016
Abstract: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project is now linked to the website of a research project entitled Space, Place and Image in the Poetry and Prose of John Donne, at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland
URL: http://wp.unil.ch/johndonne-space/

Paul's Cross on the TAP Podcast (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Pannill Camp
Publication: On TAP
Date: 7/1/2016
Abstract: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project was discussed on On TAP, a podcast about Theater and Performance Studies sponsored by the Performing Arts Department at Washington University in St Louis. group, consisting of Sarah Bay-Cheng of Bowdoin College, Pannill Camp of Washington U, and Harvey Young of Northwestern Unnversity.
URL: https://soundcloud.com/ontappod/on-tap-004

John Donne Society Award for Distinguished Publication (Review)
Author(s): John Donne Society
Publication: http://johndonnesociety.org/awards.html
Date: 1/25/2017
Abstract: The John Donne Society presented the website for the Virtual Paul's Cross Project a Distinguished Publication Award for 2013.
URL: http://johndonnesociety.org/awards.html

Modelling, Ontology and Wild Thought (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Willard McCarty
Date: 1/14/2017
Abstract: Presentation mentions the VPCP and the modelling techniques it uses
URL: http://www.mccarty.org.uk/essays/McCarty,%20Modelling,%20ontology%20and%20wild%20thought.pdf

The Virtual Paul’s Cross Project: Reverse Engineered (Review)
Author(s): Miriam Posner
Date: 12/1/2015
Abstract: A review of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project by Professor Miriam Posner, UCLA
URL: http://miriamposner.com/dh101f15/index.php/2015/12/01/the-virtual-pauls-cross-project-reverse-engineered/

Virtual Time Machine (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Frank Graff
Publication: UNC-TV
Date: 6/18/2014
Abstract: NC Science Now TV report on the Virtual Paul's Cross Project installation at NC State's Hunt Library
URL: http://science.unctv.org/content/virtual-time-machine

The First Mixed-Use Development (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Frank Graff
Publication: Blog, UNC_TV
Date: 6/18/2014
Abstract: Discussion of Paul's Churchyard in the 17th century as a mixed-use development, with its buildings with book shops on the ground floor and dwelling places above.
URL: http://science.unctv.org/content/first-mixed-use-development

The City and the King: Architecture and Politics in Restoration London (Review)
Author(s): Christine Stevenson
Publication: The City and the King: Architecture and Politics in Restoration London
Date: 6/1/2013
Abstract: Book discusses relationship between architecture and the monarchy before and after the Civil War. VPCP mentioned in a footnote (p. 314, n. 112) as an interesting extra source for a discussion of St Paul's and the public of London.

Meeting John Donne: The Virtual Paul’s Cross Project (Review)
Author(s):
Publication: Spenser Review
Date: 10/1/2014
Abstract: The Virtual Paul’s Cross Project: A Digital Re-creation of John Donne’s Gunpowder Day Sermon attempts to reconstruct the sermon-as-delivered by providing digital acoustical and visual renditions of Donne’s Gunpowder Day sermon of November 5th, 1622, at London’s preeminent preaching spot: the outdoor station of St. Paul’s Cathedral, called Paul’s Cross. The website provides several navigational categories: educational and contextual essays; an overview of the evidence and sources for the virtual reconstruction; details about the technological process of creating the virtual experience; discussion of Donne’s sermons and preaching; analysis of the ambient factors that might environ a sermon at Paul’s Cross; an outline of the evolution of Donne’s sermons, from idea to print; and, most importantly, several modules for visualizing and hearing Donne’s sermon in context. While its digital reenactments offer many teaching and research possibilities, the VPCP’s most significant intellectual cont
URL: http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/spenseronline/review/volume-44/442/digital-projects/meeting-john-donne-the-virtual-pauls-cross-proje

DH Award for Best Data Visualization 2014 (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Digital Humanities Awards Committee
Publication: DH Awards
Date: 3/1/2015
Abstract: Award for Best Data Visualization digital humanities project for 2014
URL: http://dhawards.org/dhawards2014/results/

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November: Modeling John Donne's Gunpowder Day Sermon (Review)
Author(s): Digital Humanities Awards Committee
Publication: Perspectives on History
Date: 2/1/2015
Abstract: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project (VPCP) is “a solidly historical undertaking” that combines “primary sources with secondary literature on the period,” and also “makes the most of digital technologies and uses the web to provide descriptive and interpretive elements.”
URL: http://historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/february-2015/remember-remember-the-fifth-of-november

The Humanities and the Digital Humanities (Review)
Author(s): Geoffrey Harpham
Publication: News of the National humanities Center
Date: 10/1/2013
Abstract: Wall has created a historically accurate visualization of the scene of Donne's preaching at St Paul's Cross. His work is humanistic because it brings us to a richer and deeper encounter with the actuality of the past.
URL: http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/newsletter2013/nhcnewsfallwinter2013.pdf

Poet John Donne, Live at the Hunt Library . . . Almost (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Lauren Kirkpatrick
Publication: Accolades: For Alumni and Friends of the College
Date: 3/19/2014
Abstract: A virtual re-creation of the courtyard of St Paul's Cathedral as it stood in 1622 has opened at the Hunt Library.
URL: http://news.chass.ncsu.edu/?p=8791

Relive John Donne's 17th-century sermons in virtual reality project (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Liz Bury
Publication: TMCnet.com
Date: 11/11/2013
Abstract: Researchers have created an auditory and visual simulation of what it might have been like to stand in front of St Paul's Cross pulpit in the courtyard of St Paul's Cathedral almost 400 years ago, being preached to by poet John Donne.
URL: http://technews.tmcnet.com/news/2013/11/11/7533257.htm

NCSU Launches Virtual Paul’s Cross Project (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Nicki Leone
Publication: White Cross School: The Online Journal of the North Carolina Writers' Network
Date: 11/21/2013
Abstract: Researchers at North Carolina State University, led by Dr. John Wall, have “an auditory and visual simulation of what it might have been like to stand in front of St Paul’s Cross pulpit in the courtyard of St. Paul’s Cathedral almost 400 years ago, being preached to by poet John Donne.”
URL: http://www.ncwriters.org/whitecross/2013/11/21/ncsu-launches-virtual-pauls-cross-project/

John Donne's 1622 gunpowder sermon recreated (Media Coverage)
Author(s): anonymous
Publication: Anglican Communion News Service
Date: 9/3/2013
Abstract: John Donne's 1622 gunpowder sermon recreated
URL: http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2013/09/john-donnes-1622-gunpowder-sermon-recreated.aspx

Seeing John Donne Speak: The New Archive (Review)
Author(s): Henry A. Wiencek
Publication: notevenpast.org
Date: 4/24/2014
Abstract: Through the power of computer technology, we are present as John Donne—one of England’s most renowned poetic voices—commemorates this traumatic event with a sermon paying tribute to God and King James I.
URL: https://notevenpast.org/seeing-john-donne-before-your-very-eyes-the-new-archive-no-14/

Amazing-simulation-recreates-17th-Century-London (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Ellie Zolfagharifard
Publication: Daily Mail, London
Date: 11/7/2013
Abstract: Description of installation of VPCP
URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2492751/Amazing-simulation-recreates-17th-Century-London.html

Old St Paul's Brought to Life (Media Coverage)
Author(s): anonymous
Publication: ITV London
Date: 11/15/2013
Abstract: Researchers at an American university have created a computer animation depicting the Old St Paul's Cathedral
URL: http://www.itv.com/news/london/update/2013-11-15/old-st-pauls-brought-to-life-in-new-computer-animation/

Acentech Collaborates with North Carolina State University on Acoustical Archaeology Project, “Virtual Paul’s Cross” (Media Coverage)
Author(s): anonymous
Publication: City Biz List Boston MA
Date: 11/21/2013
Abstract: Description of Acentech's role in VPCP
URL: http://boston.citybizlist.com/contributed-article/acentech-collaborates-north-carolina-state-university-acoustical-archaeology

Acentech Collaborates with NCSU on Acoustical Archaeology Project, “Virtual Paul’s Cross” (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: New England Facilities Development News
Date: 11/22/2013
Abstract: Description of Acentech's role in VPCP
URL: http://www.high-profile.com/acentech-collaborates-with-ncsu-on-acoustical-archaeology-project-virtual-pauls-cross/

Virtual model changes understanding of history (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: Dell TEch Page One
Date: 12/2/2013
Abstract: Virtual model changes understanding of history
URL: http://techpageone.dell.com/business/virtual-model-refines-understanding-history/#.UynbKoXwqor

Virtual Paul's Cross Project (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: Digital Humanities for Public Historians
Date: 8/31/2013
Abstract: Description of VPCP
URL: http://dh4ph.com/2013/08/21/virtual-pauls-cross-project/

Virtual Paul's Cross Online (Review)
Author(s): John N Wall
Publication: Early Modern Commons
Date: 5/8/2013
Abstract: Announcement of the website going on line
URL: http://commons.earlymodernweb.org/703

Virtual St Paul's Project (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Micah Khater
Publication: Humanities Insight
Date: 6/1/2013
Abstract: Description of the Project
URL: http://humanitiesinsights.wordpress.com/tag/virtual-st-pauls-project/

Editors' Choice: Virtual Paul's Cross Project (Review)
Author(s): Jeri Wieringa
Publication: Digital Humanities Now Blog
Date: 11/7/2013
Abstract: Reports vote of editors to name VPCP an Editors' Choice
URL: http://digitalhumanitiesnow.org/2013/11/editors-choice-virtual-pauls-cross-project/

Relive John Donne's 17th-Century sermons in virtual reality project (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Liz Bury
Publication: Guardian Newspaper (UK)
Date: 11/11/2013
Abstract: Newspaper account of Virtual Paul's Cross Project
URL: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/11/john-donne-virtual-reality-sermon

Researchers Re-create landmark 17th century cathedral, speech in virtual space (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Matt Shipman
Publication: Phys Blog
Date: 11/7/2013
Abstract: Description of the VPCP installation
URL: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-re-create-landmark-17th-century-cathedral.html

Take a Computerized Look at 17th Century Lonodn (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Colin Lecher
Publication: Popular Science
Date: 11/7/2013
Abstract: Description of installation of the VPCP
URL: http://www.popsci.com/article/gadgets/take-computerized-look-17th-century-london

NC State researchers bring famed poet, 17th century England to digital life (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Jay Price
Publication: News & Observer
Date: 11/6/2013
Abstract: Feature story on installation of Virtual Paul's Cross Project, also appeared in the Charlotte Observer, The State (Columbia, SC), the Miami Herald, Kansas City Star, and the Anchorage Daily News
URL: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/11/05/3344227/a-famed-poet-and-17th-century.html

ODH in the News (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: ODH website
Date: 11/19/2013
Abstract: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project is one of several ODH funded project to receive media attention in recent months.
URL: http://www.neh.gov/divisions/odh/grant-news/odh-in-the-news-2

Virtual Paul’s Cross Project website is now available for exploration! (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Virtual Paul’s Cross Project website is now available for exploration!
Publication: Early Modern Online Bibliography
Date: 5/8/2013
Abstract: Account of the establishment of our website at vpcp.chass.ncsu.edu
URL: http://earlymodernonlinebib.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/virtual-pauls-cross-project-website-is-now-available-for-exploration/

Virtual Paul's Cross Project (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Jordan Ballor
Publication: Junius Institute for Digital Reformation Research
Date: 5/9/2013
Abstract: Response to release of project website.
URL: http://www.juniusinstitute.org/blog/virtual-pauls-cross-project/

Virtual Paul's Cross (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Hardy M Cook
Publication: Shaksper.net
Date: 9/5/2013
Abstract: Description of the VPCP
URL: http://shaksper.net/current-postings/29610-virtual-pauls-cross-project

The Virtual Paul's Cross Project (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Andrew Keener
Publication: Northwestern Univ Digital Humanities Blog
Date: 9/21/2013
Abstract: Description of VPCP
URL: http://sites.weinberg.northwestern.edu/nudhl/?p=947

Associated Products

St. Paul's Cathedral Rises Again (Blog Post)
Title: St. Paul's Cathedral Rises Again
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: This entry announces our project and our blog, The Virtual Paul's Cross Project
Date: 10.25.2011
Primary URL: http://virtualpaulscrossproject.blogspot.com/2011/10/st-pauls-cathedral-rises-again.html
Primary URL Description: Official blog for the The Virtual Paul's Cross Project

Research Report: Which Way Did the Paul's Cross Preacher Face? (Blog Post)
Title: Research Report: Which Way Did the Paul's Cross Preacher Face?
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: One challenge in modeling buildings and spaces now lost to us is interpreting the evidence that survives. One image that we thought gave us a different view of Paul's Cross turns out to be based on the Gipkin painting and looks different because the engraver reversed the Gipkin image in the process of making this image.
Date: 10/26/2011
Primary URL: http://virtualpaulscrossproject.blogspot.com/2011/10/research-report-which-way-did-pauls.html
Primary URL Description: This is the blog of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project

Virtual Paul's Cross Project -- Website (Web Resource)
Title: Virtual Paul's Cross Project -- Website
Author: John N. Wall
Abstract: This website contains basic information about the project, including the Advisory Board, the Staff, and a list of current developments.
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jnwall/vpcp.html

Prizes

Award for Best DH Data Visualization in 2014
Date: 6/1/2014
Organization: DH Awards Program
Abstract: Award for Best DH Data Visualization

John Donne Society Award for Distinguished Publication
Date: 2/14/2016
Organization: John Donne Society
Abstract: John Donne Society Award for Distinguished Publication (Digital Publication, 2013)

Did Paul's Cross Have a Pulpit? (Blog Post)
Title: Did Paul's Cross Have a Pulpit?
Author: John N. Wall
Abstract: In creating a model for the Paul's Cross preaching station, we have had to decide where the preacher stood to deliver his sermon -- underneath the roof of the preaching station or in a pulpit that placed him out from under the roof. We have reviewed contemporary images of preaching stations as well as surviving examples of such structures and decided he was probably in a small pulpit.
Date: 11/04/2011
Primary URL: http://http://virtualpaulscrossproject.blogspot.com/2011/11/did-pauls-cross-have-pulpit.html
Primary URL Description: Blog for the Virtual Paul's Cross Project
Blog Title: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project

Imagining St Paul's -- the Hollar Drawings (Blog Post)
Title: Imagining St Paul's -- the Hollar Drawings
Author: John N. Wall
Abstract: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project is made possible because St. Paul's Cathedral was the subject of an extensive body of visual documentation. For St. Paul's, the most important are the engravings of Wenseslas Hollar, done for William Dugdale's History of St. Paul's Cathedral (1658). We have located two of Hollar's original drawings made in preparation for his engravings. Happily, they show the parts of the cathedral we are most interested in.
Date: 12/05/2011
Primary URL: http://virtualpaulscrossproject.blogspot.com/2011/12/imagining-st-pauls-hollar-drawings.html
Primary URL Description: Blog for the Virtual Paul's Cross Project
Blog Title: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project

The Early Modern Sermon as Collaborative Experience: The Case of John Donne at Paul's Cross (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: The Early Modern Sermon as Collaborative Experience: The Case of John Donne at Paul's Cross
Author: John N. Wall
Abstract: The process of recreating the experience of hearing sermons at London's Paul's Cross has led to recognition that the early modern sermon was a collaborative experience, with both preacher and congregation participating in the process of sermon delivery. This has led to recognition of moments in Donne's sermons clearly designed to engage the congregation and to provoke response.
Date: 4/21/2012
Primary URL: http://hdsepisc.org/2011/11/06/preaching-and-the-theological-imagination/
Primary URL Description: website for the 2012 New England Anglican Studies Conference, Harvard University
Conference Name: 2012 New England Anglican Studies Conference, Harvard University

The Virtual Paul’s Cross Project: Documenting the Experience of Public Preaching at Paul’s Cross, London, in the Post-Reformation Period. (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: The Virtual Paul’s Cross Project: Documenting the Experience of Public Preaching at Paul’s Cross, London, in the Post-Reformation Period.
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: This paper discussed the challenges of recreating the experience of the Paul's Cross sermon, including the complexities of interpreting primary evidence, of understanding relative degrees of approximation, and of holding in tension past and present models of interpretation. One highlight of the presentation was the playing of the first audio file to result from this project.
Date: 05/28/2012
Primary URL: http://www.sdh-semi.org/conference/sessions.php
Primary URL Description: Link to the program for the SDH-SEMI Conference
Conference Name: SDH-SEMI Conference, a part of the 2012 CONGRESS for Humanities and Social Sciences, Waterloo, Canada

Hearing Donne: The Experience of Donne‘s Preaching at Paul‘s Cross (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Hearing Donne: The Experience of Donne‘s Preaching at Paul‘s Cross
Author: John N. Wall
Abstract: Donne’s Paul’s Cross sermon for Gunpowder Day 1622 is best understood as a collaborative and interactive performance, not a monologue but a conversation, in which the congregation gathered for the sermon took an active and vocal role. The text of Donne’s sermon represents only one side of this conversation. Given this, we face the challenge of recovering the congregation's side of this conversation. Sometimes, however, response is already scripted, as in in its participation in the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of the sermon. Other times it can be inferred from the way the preacher structures his presentation, inviting certain kinds of response. Various kinds of possible congregational responses can be modeled and demonstrated using our virtual model of the physical and acoustic environment for this sermon, as illustrated by five audio clips combining Ben Crystal's realization of Donne's Gunpowder Day sermon for November 5th, 1622 with hypothetical congregational responses.
Date: 6/27/2012
Primary URL: http://johndonnesociety.tamu.edu/
Primary URL Description: Web site of the John Donne Society
Secondary URL: http://johndonnesociety.tamu.edu/files/2012Program.pdf
Secondary URL Description: Program for the Donne Conference 2012
Conference Name: Annual Conference of the John Donne Society

Virtual Paul's Cross: The Experience of Public Preaching at Paul's Cross in the Post-Reformation Period (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Virtual Paul's Cross: The Experience of Public Preaching at Paul's Cross in the Post-Reformation Period
Author: John N. Wall
Abstract: Digital modeling projects are not exercises in time travel but opportunities to bring together diverse forms of historical documentation and to experience -- and thus to be able to assess -- the appropriateness of our conceptual models. Digital modeling projects also need to be grounded in specific data, in this case provided by careful measurement of the cathedral by Christopher Wren and of the cathedral's foundations by John Schofield and of the Cross's foundations by F C Penrose. Our model of St Paul's and Paul's Churchyard enables us to explore the experience of John Donne's sermon for Gunpowder Day 1622, a sermon that was intended for delivery at Paul's Cross on the first Tuesday in November of 1622 but "because of the weather" was actually delivered inside the cathedral. This has enabled us to explore several issues relevant to the experience of the Paul's Cross sermon. Here, I address two of these, audibility of the sermon given possible variations in crowd sizes and the location of the auditor, and questions of preaching as an address by a speaker to a generally passive audience or as a collaborative and interactive performance, in effect, a conversation for which the surviving text of these sermons represented only one side of the conversation.
Date: 08/18/2012
Primary URL: http://www.mcgill.ca/creor/events
Primary URL Description: UIRL for CREOR ( Centre for Research on Religion) at McGill University in Montreal, the host institution for htis conference.
Conference Name: Paul's Cross and the Culture of Persuaasion, 1520-1640

Interpreting the Manuscript: MS Royal 17.B.XX. and the Virtual Paul's Cross Project (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Interpreting the Manuscript: MS Royal 17.B.XX. and the Virtual Paul's Cross Project
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: The Virtual Paul’s Cross Project (vpcp.chass.ncsu.edu) uses visual and acoustic modeling software to recreate the appearance of Paul’s Churchyard in 1622 and to explore the acoustic properties of this site for open-air preaching in the early modern period. The process of developing this project has shifted attention from the early modern sermon as a printed or manuscript text to consideration of the sermon as a performance in a particular physical setting and before a specific congregation. Even though the surviving manuscripts or printed texts of these sermons provide access to the content of the performed text, they are at best memorial reconstructions of the actual text as delivered. Early modern sermons were composed in performance from notes to recall for the preacher his prior preparation, described by Walton in his Life of Donne as including choice and division of the text, gathering of quotes from the Church Fathers, and articulation and organization of major points. This paper will focus on one way we can learn from traces that survive in sermon texts of earlier stages of the sermon’s development and of the conditions of original performance, as provided by Donne’s sermon for Gunpowder Day in 1622. This sermon contains sentence fragments that may be survivals of the notes Donne took with him into the pulpit, while the sentences around them suggest what Donne made of these notes in the process of his delivery.
Date: 04/06/2013
Primary URL: http://convention2.allacademic.com/one/rsa/rsa13/index.php?click_key=1&cmd=Multi+Search+Search+Load+Session&session_id=175404&PHPSESSID=foev6us34982051cbvpq1v8a25
Conference Name: Renaissance Society of America annual meeting, San Diego, CA

The Library Building as Research Platform (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: The Library Building as Research Platform
Author: Kristin Antelman
Author: Maurice York
Abstract: This paper discusses uses of technology in the James B. Hunt Library at NC State University, including the upcoming immersion installation of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project.
Date: 04/05/2013
Primary URL: http://www.cni.org/topics/learning-spaces/the-library-building-as-research-platform/
Conference Name: Coalition for Networked Information, spring meeting

Acoustical archaeology - Recreating the soundscape of John Donne's 1622 gunpowder plot sermon at Paul's Cross (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Acoustical archaeology - Recreating the soundscape of John Donne's 1622 gunpowder plot sermon at Paul's Cross
Author: John N. Wall
Author: Matt Azevedo
Author: Ben Markham
Abstract: Auralization has become a valuable tool to explore the acoustics of spaces and activities that no longer exist. Generally, acoustical archaeology has explored a fairly limited number of sources in a space to determine specific acoustical aspects of the sound of the spaces and to separate intentionally designed acoustical phenomena from the often unintended effects of the architecture. We have expanded this technique to recreate the entire soundscape of a specific event, in this case John Donne's 1622 Gunpowder Plot sermon at Paul's Cross, outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London as it was prior to the fire of 1666. This work augments ambisonic auralization techniques with techniques borrowed from computeraided music composition and audio production to create an immersive acoustical environment for the purpose of exploring the experience of listeners at many positions in a crowd that can be varied in size in real time. The paper outlines the role of geometric acoustics modeling, realtime convolution, randomized and statistically-derived sound event triggers, and other techniques employed to auralize a soundscape that includes the sermon, crowd response, and the ambient sounds of pre-Industrial London.
Date: 06/07/2013
Primary URL: http://http://scitation.aip.org/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf&id=PMARCW000019000001015133000001&idtype=cvips&doi=10.1121/1.4799054&prog=normal
Primary URL Description: Proceedings of the ICA Conference, includes abstract and full text of the paper
Conference Name: International Conference on Acoustics

Acoustical archaeology - Recreating the soundscape of John Donne's 1622 gunpowder plot sermon at Paul's Cross (Article)
Title: Acoustical archaeology - Recreating the soundscape of John Donne's 1622 gunpowder plot sermon at Paul's Cross
Author: John N. Wall
Author: Matt Azevedo
Author: Ben Markham
Abstract: Auralization has become a valuable tool to explore the acoustics of spaces and activities that no longer exist. Generally, acoustical archaeology has explored a fairly limited number of sources in a space to determine specific acoustical aspects of the sound of the spaces and to separate intentionally designed acoustical phenomena from the often unintended effects of the architecture. We have expanded this technique to recreate the entire soundscape of a specific event, in this case John Donne's 1622 Gunpowder Plot sermon at Paul's Cross, outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London as it was prior to the fire of 1666. This work augments ambisonic auralization techniques with techniques borrowed from computeraided music composition and audio production to create an immersive acoustical environment for the purpose of exploring the experience of listeners at many positions in a crowd that can be varied in size in real time. The paper outlines the role of geometric acoustics modeling, realtime convolution, randomized and statistically-derived sound event triggers, and other techniques employed to auralize a soundscape that includes the sermon, crowd response, and the ambient sounds of pre-Industrial London.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://scitation.aip.org/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf&id=PMARCW000019000001015133000001&idtype=cvips&doi=10.1121/1.4799054&prog=normal
Primary URL Description: Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustical Society of America
Access Model: Open access
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics
Publisher: Acoustical Society of America

Recovering Lost Acoustic Spaces: St. Paul's Cathedral and Paul's Churchyard in 1622. (Article)
Title: Recovering Lost Acoustic Spaces: St. Paul's Cathedral and Paul's Churchyard in 1622.
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, helps us to explore public preaching in early modern London, enabling us to experience a Paul's Cross sermon as a performance, as an event unfolding in real time in the context of an interactive and collaborative occasion. This Project uses architectural modelling software and acoustic simulation software to give us access experientially to a particular event from the past–the Paul's Cross sermon John Donne delivered on Tuesday, November 5, 1622. These tools enable us to integrate the physical traces of pre-Fire St. Paul's Cathedral with the surviving visual record of the cathedral and its surroundings to create a visual model of the Cathedral and its churchyard. They also enable us to experience a historically informed interpretation of Donne's preaching style, based on contemporary descriptions of his capacity to engage his congregations imaginatively and emotionally and to delight them with his wit. We are also able to assess the audibility of a sermon delivered without amplification in a large open space for people positioned at different places in the crowd, and in the presence of different sizes of congregation.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://www.digitalstudies.org/ojs/index.php/digital_studies/article/view/251/310
Primary URL Description: Website of online journal
Access Model: open access
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Digital Studies/Le Champ Numérique
Publisher: Society for Digital Humanities (canada)

Reconstructing Pre-Modern Spaces (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Reconstructing Pre-Modern Spaces
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: The use of visual and acoustic modeling software enables us to integrate a variety of kinds of evidence for the look and sound of Paul's Churchyard, outside St Paul's Cathedral, in London in the early modern period. The Virtual Paul's Cross Project brings together visual images from the historic record with physical evidence from archaeological surveys as well as weather and climate conditions to create the look and sound of London in November of 1622. We have learned from this project that preachers at Paul's Cross could have been heard throughout the churchyard, if they used a measured delivery, that sermons preached from notes enable the preacher to be flexible and responsive to the crowd, and that texts of sermons are at best memorial reconstructions of events created in the process of their performance.
Date: 3/08/2014
Primary URL: http://web.utk.edu/~marco/symposium.php
Primary URL Description: This paper was delivered at the 11th annual MARCO Symposium at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.
Conference Name: 11th Annual Marco Symposium: Reconceiving Pre-Modern Spaces

Virtual Medieval St Paul's Cathedral (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Virtual Medieval St Paul's Cathedral
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: The use of visual and acoustic modeling software enables us to integrate a variety of kinds of evidence for the look and sound of Paul's Churchyard, outside St Paul's Cathedral, in London in the early modern period. The Virtual Paul's Cross Project brings together visual images from the historic record with physical evidence from archaeological surveys as well as weather and climate conditions to create the look and sound of London in November of 1622. We have learned from this project that preachers at Paul's Cross could have been heard throughout the churchyard, if they used a measured delivery, that sermons preached from notes enable the preacher to be flexible and responsive to the crowd, and that texts of sermons are at best memorial reconstructions of events created in the process of their performance.
Date: 2/18/2014
Primary URL: http://www.history.ac.uk/podcasts/digital-history/virtual-st-pauls-cathedral-and-pauls-cross
Primary URL Description: website of the Digital Humanities Seminar, Institute of Historical Research, Univ of London, UK
Conference Name: Digital Humanities Seminar, Institute of Historical Research, Univ of London, UK

The Virtual Paul's Cross Project (Exhibition)
Title: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project
Curator: John N Wall
Abstract: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project Installation in the Teaching and Visualization Lab of NC State's Hunt Library immerses the audience in the experience of Paul's Churchyard on November 5, 1622 between 10 AM and 12 noon. Using 10 projectors, we see a 270 degree panoramic view of Paul's Churchyard and St Paul's Cathedral, a view that changes as we move from listening position to listening position through 7 different positions. At each position, we can hear John Donne's sermon for Gunpowder Day 1622 in the presence of four different sizes of crowd.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wms-donne-2013/
Primary URL Description: Official Announcement of the Installation from NC State University News Office

Preaching, Performance, and Public Space in Medieval and Early Modern England (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Preaching, Performance, and Public Space in Medieval and Early Modern England
Author: Organizer -- John N Wall
Abstract: A symposium for the opening of the Virtual Paul's Cross installation at the James B Hunt Library, NC State University Participants and their paper titles included: Plenary Address -- John Schofield, Archaeologist, St Paul’s Cathedral, London, former Curator of Architecture, Museum of London -- “Reconstructing Medieval St Paul’s Cathedral” Panel Tom Barrie, Professor of Architecture, NC State University -- “The Architecture of the Sacred in Early Modern England” Carol Symes, History, Theatre, Medieval Studies, University of Illinois -- “Sightlines, Soundscapes, and the Shaping of a Medieval Public Sphere.” Heather Hyde Minor, History of Architecture, University of Illinois -- “The St. Paul’s that Wasn’t” Anne MacNeil, History of Music, UNC – Chapel Hill -- “The Way-Back Machine: Digital Tools for Study of the Distant Past”
Date Range: November 5, 2013
Location: James B Hunt Library, NC State University
Primary URL: http://vpcp.chass.ncsu.edu/symposium/
Primary URL Description: Official website of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project

Virtual Paul’s Cross: the experience of public preaching after the Reformation (Book Section)
Title: Virtual Paul’s Cross: the experience of public preaching after the Reformation
Author: John N Wall
Editor: Torrance Kirby
Editor: P G Stanwood
Abstract: Central to the functioning of Paul’s Cross as a venue for public discourse between rulers and ruled in early modern England was the actual experience of hearing sermons delivered to crowds of people in an outdoor space in the midst of urban London. Working with a team of architects, acoustic engineers, linguists, and actors, we have engaged in recreating the experience of being present for the delivery of a Paul’s Cross sermon in a virtual model of the space in which it was originally delivered.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://www.brill.com/products/book/pauls-cross-and-culture-persuasion-england-1520-1640
Primary URL Description: publisher's website
Access Model: book is available for sale or as an ebook
Publisher: EJ Brill
Book Title: Paul’s Cross and the culture of persuasion in England, 1520–1640
ISBN: 9789004242272

Transforming the Object of our Study: (Article)
Title: Transforming the Object of our Study:
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project helps us to rediscover the sermon-as-event rather than the sermon-as-text, to glimpse the performative and participatory character of early modern preaching through recognizing the text that we have of the sermon as a trace of, at best a memorial reconstruction of, the sermon-as-event, rather than the sermon itself. This means we must, paradoxically, read the text both for what it tells us about the event it remembers and what it doesn’t tell us, read for clues about how this memorial reconstruction differs from the sermon-as-delivered as well as how closely it remembers that event.
Year: 2014
Primary URL: http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org/3-1/transforming-the-object-of-our-study-by-john-n-wall/.
Primary URL Description: website of the Journal of Digital Humanities
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of Digital Humanities
Publisher: Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Listening to the “Virtual Paul’s Cross”—Auralizing 17th Century London (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Listening to the “Virtual Paul’s Cross”—Auralizing 17th Century London
Author: Matthew Azevedo
Abstract: We set up the real-time auralization at the Acoustical Society of America’s Spring 2014 meeting in Providence, RI and ran a six-hour listening session where people could come and listen and interact with the simulation. I gave three 30-minute talks about the project (one every two hours), and the remaining time was dedicated to listening. Well over 100 people came to experience the simulation during the day. All the chairs in the main listening area were full for each talk with overflow to the sides, so at least 90 were in attendance for the talks alone. Several people sat and listened for over an hour, which was wonderful to see.
Date Range: May 9, 2014
Location: Providence, RI
Primary URL: http://acousticalsociety.org/sites/default/files/docs/Wednesday_0.pdf
Primary URL Description: Program for the annual meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Providence, RI May 5-9, 2014

The Virtual Paul’s Cross Project: Digital Modeling’s Uneasy Approximations (Article)
Title: The Virtual Paul’s Cross Project: Digital Modeling’s Uneasy Approximations
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: Digital modeling aims to restore the multisensory and real-time experiences of the past that we have known only through static words, approximating the words as spoken and heard at the time of the original event. The visually compelling, historically appropriate, and convincing virtual model of Paul's Cross produces an illusion of completeness and authenticity, obscuring the extent to which much of the model is only representationally accurate. Limitations to our ability to exactly replicate past events in a virtual model limit — without eliminating — our ability to extrapolate from that model to advance scholarship.
Year: 2014
Primary URL: http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/virtual-paul%E2%80%99s-cross-project-digital-modeling%E2%80%99s-uneasy-approximations
Primary URL Description: Website of EDUCAUSE.edu
Secondary URL: http://www.educause.edu/
Access Model: open access
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: EDUCAUSE Review
Publisher: EDUCAUSE

Recreating the Paul's Cross Sermon at St Paul's Cathedral (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Recreating the Paul's Cross Sermon at St Paul's Cathedral
Abstract: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project uses visual and acoustic modeling technologies in combination with careful historical research to recreate two hours of time in Paul's Churchyard, outside St Paul's Cathedral in London on November 5, 1622.
Author: John N Wall
Date: 11/22/2014
Location: St Paul's Cathedral, London UK

Prizes

Best Data Visualization digital humanities project for 2014
Date: 3/1/2015
Organization: DH Awards
Abstract: The categories for the open Digital Humanities Awards 2014 are: Best Use of DH for Fun Best DH Data Visualization Best Exploration of DH Failure Best DH Blog Post or Series of Posts Best Use DH Public Engagement Best DH tool or Suite of Tools

Preaching to the Choir: Understanding Worship in an Aural Culture (Book Section)
Title: Preaching to the Choir: Understanding Worship in an Aural Culture
Author: John N Wall
Editor: Zachary Guiliano and Cameron E. Partridge
Abstract: As a result of a concern with the spoken (and sung) voice, recent scholarship on early modern preaching has suggested the importance of recognizing sermons as things heard, as performances, delivered on specific occasions in particular locales and in the presence of unique gatherings of people. The question of post-Reformation English Christianity as a religion functioning in an oral culture, with speaking and hearing at the heart of its character, has been reinforced for me through my work with the Virtual Paul’s Cross Project (vpcp.chass.ncsu.edu). This project, funded by a grant from the Endowment for the Humanities, uses digital modeling technology to recreate as fully as possible the experience of hearing Donne preach his sermon for Guy Fawkes Day on November 5, 1622. Through this project, we are able to join the crowd gathered at Paul’s Cross, the preaching station in the churchyard of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, to hear Donne’s sermon performed, to experience it as an event unfolding in real time, moment by moment, an interactive and collaborative occasion heard in the physical space for which Donne composed it.
Year: 2015
Primary URL: http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=77887&concordeid=312500
Primary URL Description: Book page on publisher's website
Access Model: book must be purchased
Publisher: Peter Lang
Book Title: Preaching and the Theological Imagination
ISBN: 978-1-4331-250

The Virtual Paul's Cross Project (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project
Author: John N Wall
Abstract: Poster presentation of the Virtual Paul's Cross Project at the Digital Visualization in the Humanities conference at the University of Reading, UK, a conference funded by the British Academy’s Rising Star Engagement Award scheme.
Date: 03/31/2016
Primary URL: http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/virtual-rome/2016/01/15/digital-visualisation-colloquium/
Conference Name: Digital Visualization in the Humanities (U of Reading, UK)

“Gazing into Imaginary Spaces: Digital Modeling and the Representation of Reality” (Book Section)
Title: “Gazing into Imaginary Spaces: Digital Modeling and the Representation of Reality”
Author: John N. Wall
Editor: Laura Estill, Diane K. Jakacki, Michael Ullyot
Abstract: Digital modeling provides humanists with powerful tools for integrating large amounts of historical information into a unified and coherent display. This essay is, however, about something else, about what we are doing when we believe we have discovered, from our experience with a digital environment, things about past events that are not documented by traditional sources. Such an outcome challenges traditional forms of knowledge while enriching our sense of what it is we know about past events and their meaning. The best results come from holding in tension the traditional understandings of the truthfulness of our work and new opportunities for enriching that understanding.
Year: 2016
Access Model: for sale
Publisher: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Book Title: Early Modern Studies after the Digital Turn
ISBN: 978-0-86698-5

New Resource: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project Website (Blog Post)
Title: New Resource: The Virtual Paul's Cross Project Website
Author: John N. Wall
Abstract: The goal of this project is to integrate what we know, or can surmise, about the look and sound of this space, destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666, and about the course of activities as they unfolded on the occasion of a Paul’s Cross sermon, so that we may experience a major public event of early modern London as it unfolded in real time and in the context of its original surroundings.
Date: 05/09/2013
Primary URL: https://www.hastac.org/news/new-resource-virtual-pauls-cross-project-website
Primary URL Description: Blog for HASTAC at Duke University
Blog Title: https://www.hastac.org/news/new-resource-virtual-pauls-cross-project-website
Website: https://www.hastac.org/

The Contested Pliability of Sacred Space in St Paul’s Cathedral and Paul’s Churchyard in Early Modern London (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: The Contested Pliability of Sacred Space in St Paul’s Cathedral and Paul’s Churchyard in Early Modern London
Author: John N. Wall
Abstract: This paper will argue that the relationship between sacred and secular in the early seventeenth century played out in a complex and interactive relationship staged by the conduct of public worship and in the interactive character of preaching as quasi-theatrical events in specific locales and occasions. Donne’s role in worship took place on occasions enabled by the Book of Common Prayer; his preaching, which he sometimes opposed rhetorically to the theater, shared with the theater a wide range of audience expectations for the use of costumes, clearly-defined stages, and active engagement with the assembled congregation. This transformation of worship played out in spaces which were themselves engaged in contested relationships between sacred and secular. Our digital models of St Paul’s Cathedral and Paul’s Churchyard (vpcp.chass.ncsu.edu) foreground the complexities of these interactions during Donne’s time as Dean of the cathedral. The cathedral’s nave ceased being the site of festival processions or the site of chancery chapels where masses were said for the dead, becoming instead Paul’s Walk, the notorious site where the fashionable came to gossip and lawyers, prostitutes, and pickpockets plied their trades, interrupting the round of daily offices that continued to be sung in the cathedral’s Choir. In Paul’s Churchyard, the sacred world of cloisters and charnel houses gave way to a complex mix of sacred and secular; Paul’s Churchyard functioned both as a working graveyard and an increasingly commercial area where the proliferation of bookshops made Paul’s Churchyard into the commercial center of the English book trade. So formerly sacred spaces could shelter community and commercial activities while regaining a sense of a transformed sacred space through public ceremonies and occasions like the Paul’s Cross sermons, which while theologically instructive were also the most entertainment one could find in London for free on a Sunday morning.
Date: 05/12/2017
Primary URL: http://wp.unil.ch/johndonne-space/2017-conference/
Primary URL Description: Site for the Space, Place, and Image Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, where I delivered this paper
Conference Name: Space, Place and Image in Early Modern English Literature

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