Wagging the Dog in the Digital age: The Impact of Computer Modeling on Architectural History Diane Favro UCLA Architecture and Urban Design Box 951467 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1467 dfavro [at]ucla[dot]edu http://etc.ucla.edu/ Abstract: Real-time digital simulations -- from reconstruction models of past buildings, to GIS driven topographic mapping, and evolution modeling -- are creating a stir in architectural history, cultural history management, urban studies, and other fields involved in the research and teaching of historic environments. Dynamic digital models are touted as progressive indicators of new research and educational paradigms. Case studies drawn from UCLA's Experiential Technologies Center highlight advances by emphasizing immersion, experientiality, predictive modeling, scientific collaborations, and the comprehensive inter-linking of diverse data. At the same time, these examples also flag potential problems readily overshadowed by the flush of technological excitement. The consideration of computing within a broad continuum of scholarly tools and questions creates a more full-bodied picture. Equally important, such a reassessment compels scholars to reflect if they, or the digital tools, are driving the research, and to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the tail wagging the dog. Bio: Diane Favro is a Professor in the Department of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA. She received her PhD in Architecture from UC Berkeley working on Roman architecture and urbanism. Professor Favro's research focuses on the history of the built environment in Roman antiquity. Her monograph, The Urban Image of Augustan Rome (Cambridge University Press, 1996), explores the design implications of urban development under the first emperor. She has also published on women architects in early California. She is interested in the educational applications of scientifically accurate, interactive computer models of historic environments. She is a former President of the Society of Architectural Historians and is now the Director of the Experiential Technologies Center at UCLA (http://etc.ucla.edu/).