I’m really sorry I missed the presentation at the AJS. Created by Melissa Schiff, Louis Kaplan, and John Craig Freeman, Mapping Ararat is an alternative, digitally augmented homeland project. In the 19th century, upstate New York was an incubator of new social movements, a seat of abolitionism and then women’s suffrage rights. A utopian fantasy, the idea to build there a Jewish refuge-homeland fits into the larger historical and social picture. I hope the site continues to develop. A digital humanities artwork that seamlessly integrates art and history, the website devoted to the project is very well designed and easy to navigate:  http://www.mappingararat.com/