Over winter break, Prof. Austin Mason is looking to hire up to 5 students for his NEH-funded project developing Virtual Reality experiences around Viking Longships and how they were built, rowed, sailed, and used in death rituals.
The Virtual Viking Longship Project: A Study in the Future of Liberal Arts Teaching and Research, funded by a Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, has been going on for two years with 10 Carleton students and 8 Grinnell students making tremendous progress to date (read more about it at https://virtualvikings.sites.grinnell.edu/).
This winter break, Prof. Mason is seeking to hire up to 5 students to work for 20-40 hours per week for 3 weeks (December 2-20), and possibly continue on with the project throughout the academic year via independent study. The break work can be hybrid, with in person work preferred but remote work possible.
Students will learn to research the social and cultural roles of a Viking Age longship, model digital objects from the Viking Age, and/or learn to program an educational VR experience. We will also discuss scholarship related to the uses of virtual reality as well as the culture and history of the Vikings.
There are three distinct roles we are looking to fill:
- Subject Matter Researchers to help lead the historical and archaeological research,
- 3D Artists to model historic artifacts using Blender and Unity,
- Software Developers to program VR experiences in C# using the Unity XR Interaction toolkit and the Oculus SDK
How to apply: Send an email with the Subject line “Vikings in VR Paid Winter Break Research Group Opportunity” to Prof. Mason with a short statement of interest, a list of any relevant skills and experience, and the name of one Carleton faculty member who can act as a reference for you.
Please reach out to Prof. Austin Mason with any questions.