Akbari, Suzanne ConklinSuzanne ConklinAkbariEvalyn, LawrenceLawrenceEvalynHenderson, C.E.M.C.E.M.HendersonKing, JuliaJuliaKingLockhart, JessicaJessicaLockhartMitchell, LauraLauraMitchell2023-03-072023-03-072020Akbari, S.C., Evalyn, L., Henderson, C.E.M., King, J., Lockhart, J., Mitchell, L., “One Loveheart Emoji at a Time: The Building of Affective Community in a Digital Medieval Studies Lab.” Digital Humanities Quarterly 14.3 (2020). Special issue, “Lab and Slack: Situated Research Practices in Digital Humanities,” ed. Mila Oiva and Urszula Pawlicka-Deger. [Senior author, with Lawrence Evalyn, C.E.M. Henderson, Julia King, Jessica Lockhart, and Laura Mitchell.]http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/14/3/000474/000474.htmlhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12111/8051The Old Books, New Science (OBNS) Lab began using Slack in May 2016 to facilitate the work of a diverse research group at the University of Toronto. Yet the OBNS Slack does not simply facilitate scholarly communication: it also serves as a powerful affective network, bringing together scholars in new and sometimes unexpected configurations. The affective language of emoji is fundamental to the growth of this community. Lab members coin new emoji that are taken up by the community eagerly, many of which are meaningful only within the OBNS environment. It is common to reference Slack emoji in in-person conversation; equally, the OBNS Slack is often home to advising sessions or meetings that in another workplace would take place face-to-face. In this way, the online environment of Slack and the in-person environment of the lab are mutually constitutive. Such usage of Slack may, however, also have a dark side: by celebrating affective community in the workspace, what happens to the distinction between home and office, and consequent erosion of leisure time? We consider whether the affective practices of the OBNS Slack might allow personal and professional boundaries to be blurred in such a way as to prioritize the personal.en-USJournal article