Katie Oxx, “Producing Urban Trinity: the Story of Catholic Philadelphia: Challenges and Opportunities of Transmedia Storytelling for Religious Scholars and Historians”

“Transmedia” storytelling is a method of telling smaller pieces of a larger story on different platforms. Though it is typically used in the entertainment and marketing fields, it potentially captures many of the same principles and ideas scholars are more likely to label “digital humanities.” Katie Oxx, Producer and Senior historian of Urban Trinity: The Story of Catholic Philadelphia, and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Saint Joseph’s University, will discuss how History Making Productions, a Philadelphia-based Emmy Award winning production company uses video, television, web-sites, smart-phone applications, interactivity and crowd sourcing, social media, digital maps and GIS, and other platforms and strategies to reach the largest audience and to have the highest entertainment, historical, and pedagogical value. She will also discuss which aspects of historical narratives are best engaged through certain platforms, the risks and potential rewards for scholars working in this field, and what Transmedia Storytellers and Digital Humanitarians can learn from each other.