#36 Building Communities Focused on Social Advocacy and Care in Digital Humanities Labs and Programs

Jacquelyne Thoni Howard

Scholarly media and institutional administrations often portray STEM and Humanities departments as competing with each other for students and resources. These messages often revolve around the challenges that both disciplines face, such as the lack of inclusion of gender minorities within STEM and the portrayal of Humanities and Liberal Arts majors as counterproductive to gainful employment. Often scholars and undergraduates view the work of other disciplines as non-compatible to their fields and goals. Intentionally designed Digital Humanities student programming provides an opportunity to address these challenges and create interdisciplinary research opportunities for faculty, the community, and undergraduates in all fields. This interactive course will guide attendees through the process of designing educational programming that meets institutional goals and the needs of diverse groups of faculty and students. Participants will discuss readings by leading technology studies scholars of gender and race on the challenges faced by undergraduates and faculty in STEM, Liberal Arts, and the Digital Humanities. Participants will collaborate and construct strategies for designing digital humanities labs and student programs that focus on advocacy and community-engaged research by writing program goals, examining funding opportunities, recruiting diverse students, partners, and faculty, modifying Scrum/Agile project management techniques to manage undergraduate teams, finding technical support through campus outreach, and developing program assessment. By the end of the course, attendees leave with an initial project plan that they can implement at their institutions.

Duration: 2-3 hours

Proposed schedule: TBA

Auditor Option: Available

Related Materials: instructor biographies