Acknowledgements
The amazing Master's Project Committee, including:
Dr. Steffi Dippold (Major Professor): Her extra-ordinary supervision and invaluable suggestions helped me learn the details of archival research. Her never-ending quest to solve the problems of the absent archive guided me to reach my destination in this project. I am most grateful to her.
Dr. Mark Crosby (Second Reader and Director of the K-State Digital Humanities Center): His expertise in Digital Humanities Pedagogy guided me to take crucial decisions regarding the archive. This DH Project came into being from an idea to the present state with his continuous support. I consider myself very fortunate for being able to work with an encouraging mentor like him.
Dr. Tanya González (Third Reader): Her input and inspiration to this project were crucial for me. I express my humble gratitude to her.
The Foreign Fulbright Program: Sponsor of my M.A. Program at Kansas State University from 2018-2020.
Kansas State University Graduate School: For their Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Small Grant Award in Spring 2020 that I utilized in my travel to Brown University to explore the Thayer archive.
Kansas State University College of Arts and Sciences: For their generous Student Travel Grant in Summer 2019 to attend the University of Southern California Summer Institute on Scalar.
The Scalar Team at the University of Southern California: For their scholarship and Summer Institute in Spring 2019. I learned the details of the Scalar platform in their week-long workshop.
Holly Snyder, Curator of American Historical Collections and the History of Science at John Hay Library, Brown University: For scanning Thayer’s manuscript lecture and sending it via email in Summer 2019 when I could not explore the manuscript in person. I am also grateful to her for the valuable contribution to the transcription of the manuscript. Without her kind cooperation and help the research work would never have been possible.
Timothy Engels and the incredible staff at The John Hay Special Collections: Who supported me during my research at the Special Collections from 4 – 10 February, 2020. They gave their expert input in my transcription.
I am thankful to my friend Brittani Ivan, and David Beckley for their valuable contribution to the transcription process. Again, I am grateful to Nasik Muhammad Nafi from the Department of Computer Science at Kansas State University, who helped me with his technical knowledge of CSS Programming.
A special thanks goes to my better half and friend Rifat Rezowana Siddiqui for her intellectual support and important suggestions during the research. I am most grateful to my other family members who live in Bangladesh, 8500 miles away from Kansas. They have always loved me and supported my every choice.
Mohammad Kasifur Rahman
11 April 2020