What does Digital Humanities work look like at MSU?
Digital Humanities takes many forms and operates in various places around MSU’s campus. DH@MSU supports this work by providing funding for projects and professional development, offering consultations, and creating opportunities to share with the community. We take pride in the diversity and interdisciplinarity of the DH@MSU community and invite you to learn more about its work.
News Feed
-
THATCamp Spring 2025 Virtual
Date: January 17th, 2025 Location: Online Register to attend! THATCamp (which stands for “The Humanities and Technology Camp”) is a gathering where the agenda is set by attendees on the day of the event based on what people want to learn and/or share. It is an event where students, staff, and faculty from any discipline…
-
What DH Means to Me: Max Evjen
What DH Means to Me: Max Evjen I learned about Digital Humanities when I was working as Performance and Digital Engagement Specialist at the MSU Museum (2015-2019), and increasingly I’ve seen how Digital Humanities happens in the museum context while I’ve been involved by presenting at Museum Computer Network Conferences and volunteering for that organization.…
-
What DH Means to Me: Matt Handelman
What DH Means to Me: Matt Handelman I am associate professor of German, core faculty in the Digital Humanities, Associate Chair for Graduate Studies in LiLaC, and Interim Chair of Digital Humanities. This might sound like a strange combination of interests, but it goes to the heart of what DH means to me. I started…
-
Research Highlight: Matt Handelman-Below the Line
“Below the Line” (https://www.feuilletonproject.org/) provides open-access resources for those interested in learning more about the feuilleton—an arts and culture section of European newspapers popular before the Second World War—and its importance in the formation of modern Jewish cultures. The project aims to foster conversation about and research into the feuilleton as a historical forum that…
-
Research Highlight: Marissa Knaak-Rebuilding Departments Stores in SketchUP.
This project is a 3D model, built in SketchUp, of the 1899 John Walsh department store in Sheffield, UK. Drawn from the architectural plans of Flockton, Gibbs & Flockton, accessed at the Sheffield Archives, I am attempting to create a general recreation of the building which was destroyed in 1940. This project is part of…
-
Teaching Highlight: DSAH 258 Introduction to Digital Studies in the Arts and Humanities
Digital studies in the arts and humanities (DSAH) is the study of culture using digital methods and also the study of digital culture. The class analyzes cultural materials and tell stories using digital technologies while maintaining a critical lens. By creating their own projects and learning about digital studies tools, students become more reflective of…
-
What DH Means to Me: Yuri Cantrell
What DH Means to Me: Yuri Cantrell My journey into digital humanities came from a love of technology, working with software and hardware, that eventually led me into the humanities and scholarship. I began working on immersive projects, serious games for training and VR simulations, and soon transitioned into higher education from studio work. The…
-
What DH Means to Me: Dani Willcutt
What DH Means to Me: Dani Willcutt Digital Humanities (DH) has come to mean a lot to me. In 2018 – which is when my introduction to DH occurred – it was a graduate certificate that I thought would make an interesting addition to my curriculum vitae. When I made the decision to join the…
-
Teaching Highlight: ISS 210 Course on Social Movements
This semester, Emily Joan Elliott’s ISS 210 course on social movements is partnering with Lab for Education in and Advancement of Digital Research (LEADR), run by Gillian MacDonald. Over the course of the semester, a LEADR assistant, Jada Gannaway, will visit Emily’s 200-student lecture to teach the students how to use Voyant, Timeline JS, andCanva.…
-
Teaching Highlight: XA 310 Computational Thinking in the Humanities
Taught by Jeff Kurre, a professor in Writing, Rhetoric and Cultures, this class also incorporates aspects of Digital Humanities. The concepts that define “computational thinking” have been around for ages but recently gained prominence in 2006 with an essay by Dr. Jeanette Wing. She argued that the skills of decomposition (breaking large problems into smaller…
-
Taking A Walk Down Memory Lane: Exploring Immersive Digital Approaches in Local Communities
Seed Grant Summer 2024 Report Ashley Cerku Background Downtown Main Street. A few images may come to mind, but that image is different for everyone because we all have various experiences and perceptions. Like any historical record, many small towns have a homogenized history—one that is recorded by those in positions of power and lacking…
-
Research Highlight: Adventurers, Friends, and Witnesses by Crystal VanKooten
Inspired by the stories of her extended family in Anchorage, Alaska, Crystal VanKooten at Michigan State University, documented the lives of three Alaskan nurses; Jacqueline Greenman, Anna Belle Engbers, and Marjorie VanKooten. These were American women of Dutch descent who lived in Alaska and worked at the Alaska Native Medical Center. In this website you…
-
Graduate Student Profile: Daniel Fandino
Personal website: https://wiredhistory.com/ Twitter/X: @danfandino Bluesky: danfandino.bsky.social About Daniel Daniel Fandino is a historian of the United States and Japan with a specialization in Digital History, and a PhD candidate at Michigan State University. He received the Graduate Certificate in Spring 2024. Daniel’s research focuses on the relationship between the United States and Japan, popular…
-
Mapping Reproductive Justice Law
Seed Grant Summer 2024 Report Taylor Elyse Mills and Gregory Rogel Background With the overturn of Roe v. Wade and current, continued reports of forced sterilization of immigrant women in recent years, our timely project aims to track and map the history of legal precedent that has enabled the forced sterilization of women (and those…
-
Networking Letters of Revolution
Seed Grant Summer 2024 Report Gillian MacDonald and Morgan Fox Background Inspired by more recent developments in the field of network science and early modern studies, Networking is a nascent open access digital repository of code and data specifically related to relationships and networks of people in Scotland during the Revolution. The recent publication of…
-
A Community-Engaged Approach to Mesoamerican Plant Knowledge: The Co-Creation of a Botanical Database
Seed Grant Summer 2024 Report Aubree Marshall Project Background Food plays a complex role in our daily lives. In addition to providing us with the nutrition we need to nourish our bodies, food access and choice reflect many different cultural practices and ideologies, which in turn can affect health for better or for worse (White,…
-
Fall 2024 Research Showcase
Thursday, November 14th 12:00-2:00pm Main Library, Digital Scholarship Lab, Flex Space (2nd Floor, West) Join the MSU Digital Humanities Program for our second annual DH Research Showcase in the MSU Main Library, Digital Scholarship Lab, Flex Space (2nd Floor, West), where recipients of DH summer funding will discuss their projects, and where we invite all…
-
Research Highlight: Stratford Heritage Guide
Analysis of 19th-century guidebooks reveals how public understanding of Stratford’s monuments has evolved, demonstrating the subjective nature of the town’s relationship with Shakespeare.
-
Project Highlight: The Travels of Lady Nijo: Pilgrimage, Travel, and Tourism in 13th and 14th Century Japan
The Confessions of Lady Nijo is a work written around 1307 by Lady Nijo, a Japanese noblewomen turned Buddhist monk.
-
What DH Means to Me: Natalie Phillips
What I love most about DH is how its inclusivity and emphasis on community engagement has urged me to grow, expanding my work in cognitive studies of literature and eighteenth-century history of mind into art exhibits on Creativity in the Time of Covid-19 that champion disability justice and accessibility.
-
Research Highlight – Unlocking Squareland Mysteries: The Development of Squareland Digital Field Trips
With the DH Seed Grant, allowed the opportunity to think more creatively and expansively about how K-12 students engage with the landscapes, people and stories of KBS.
-
Project Highlight: Archive of Malian Photography
Archive of Malian Photography provides access to preserved & digitized collections of five important photographers in Mali.
-
Project Highlight: Marsh Time
Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center (CMERC) is a 400-acre parcel of land in Bath, Michigan, that is as noteworthy for its past as its future. The plot is the only remaining portion of the original MSU land grant that is non-contiguous with the East Lansing campus.
-
Teaching Highlight: LEADR Class
This semester LEADR Associate Director Gillian Macdonald and Graduate Assistant Aubree Marshall trialed the use of the digital tool KnightLab JS StoryMaps in a large ISS course.
-
THATCamp – August 2024
Register to Attend What is THATCamp? THATCamp (which stands for “The Humanities and Technology Camp”) is a gathering where the agenda is set by attendees on the day of the event based on what people want to learn and/or share. It is an event where students, staff, and faculty from any discipline and from all…
-
Unlocking Squareland Mysteries: The Development of Squareland Digital Field Trips
Seed Grant Summer 2023 Report Kara Haas Project Description At the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS), MSU’s largest off-campus research and education complex, in-person field trips have been a mainstay of outreach efforts since the 1920s. Field trips are memorable learning experiences that connect students physically and emotionally with the local environment. Unfortunately, these in-person events…
-
Spring 2024 Local Spotlight Lecture: Dr. Stephanie Jordan
Coregulating with Water: Building Resilient Community with Toxic Watersheds Through Art-Science Dr. Jordan’s talk will be a hybrid event: in-person at the MSU Main Library, Digital Scholarship Lab, Flex Space, and virtual over Zoom at the following registration link.
-
Graduate Student Profile: Nick Sly
Nick Sly is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at Michigan State University who received a Graduate Certificate in Digital Humanities in Fall 2023. He studies U.S. social and cultural history with an emphasis on education at the turn of the 19th century. His dissertation covers the controversies over textbooks and their adoption…
-
Marsh Time: Humanistic Ways of Measuring and Experiencing Corey Marsh
Seed Grant Summer 2023 Report Garth Sabo and Matt Rossi Background and Context Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center (CMERC) is a 400-acre parcel of land in Bath, Michigan, that is as noteworthy for its past as its future. The plot is the only remaining portion of the original MSU land grant that is non-contiguous with…
-
Mapping Michigan Menus
Seed Grant Summer 2023 Report Dani Willcutt I requested the seed grant to support preliminary research for finding a methodology for using bar and restaurant menus as data. I knew that I needed to find menus that were specific to Michigan and to Lansing and that the seed grant would provide the resources to digitize…
-
Project Highlight: Mapping Michigan Menus
Mapping Michigan Menus began last summer with an exploration of available ways of “mapping” a food or drink menu, funded by a Digital Humanities Seed Grant.
-
Project Highlight: The Green Book
The Green Book was a travel guide published between 1936 and 1966 that listed hotels, restaurants, bars, gas stations, etc. that Black travelers would be welcomed.
-
End of Semester Celebration Fall 2023
Join the DH@MSU Community for an afternoon of projects, updates, mingling, and some snacks! Thursday, 12/7/23 3PM-5PM, Green Room, MSU Main Library
-
THATCamp – January 2024
Date: January 12th, 2024 Location: Online Register to attend by Wednesday, January 10th, 2024! THATCamp (which stands for “The Humanities and Technology Camp”) is a gathering where the agenda is set by attendees on the day of the event based on what people want to learn and/or share. It is an event where students, staff, and…
-
What DH Means To Me: Steve Rachman
I have been working with Digital Humanities for more than twenty-five years and it meanings have shifted over that time, but I think the constants have lay in its usefulness for thinking about literature, reaching out to new communities, and creating new forms of access and scholarship. My first encounter with this “thing” called or…
-
Teaching Highlight: Imari Tetu, Teaching with AI
Imari Tetu discusses teaching with AI in her course, 111: Intro to Accessibility for the Humanities.
-
Undergraduate Student Profile: Margaux Smith
Undergraduate Student Margaux Smith gives insight into her undergraduate journey and how she found Digital Hummanties.
-
What DH Means to Me: Kate Birdsall
DH Core Faculty, WRAC Dept, describes what Digital Hummanties means to her within her scholarship.
-
Research Highlight: Stacey Camp & Ethan Watrall- Internment Archaeology Digital Archive
The Internment Archaeology Digital Archive (IADA) project is a digital platform and website dedicated to sharing the stories of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated and interned during World War II in Idaho.
-
Project: Citing Slavery
The legal profession must confront its role in slavery. Acknowledging and discussing the modern citation of slave cases is a first step.
-
Fall 2023 Social Hours
Digital Humanities is holding social hours several times this semester for Faculty, Staff, and Students. Bring your lunch or just stop in to say hi! We’ll be focusing on different audiences on different days. We may include some additional treats! All social hours will happen in Project Room J of the Digital Scholarship Lab in…
-
Fall 2023 Research Showcase
Digital Humanities Research Showcase Thursday, October 19 12:00-2:00pm Main Library, Green Room (4th Floor West) Join the MSU Digital Humanities Program for our inaugural DH Research Showcase, where recipients of DH summer funding and faculty/staff and students will discuss their projects in process. Join us for a wonderful day of DH projects! The interdisciplinary field…
-
Distinguished Lecture: Suzanne Churchill
Watch Dr. Churchill’s lecture here: Join us for the 2023 Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Suzanne Churchill in the Green Room of the MSU Main Library (4th Floor, West) on Thursday, November 16th, 4:00-5:30pm. “THE future is limitless”: Mina Loy as a Model for Inclusive DH Designs Dr. Churchill will showcase a series of projects that…
-
THATCamp – August 2023
Register to Attend! Thursday, August 24, 2023Digital Scholarship Lab (Main Library) What is THATCamp? Why THATCamp MSU? Schedule Technology and Communication Additional Information Contact Us Register to Attend What is THATCamp? THATCamp (which stands for “The Humanities and Technology Camp”) is a gathering where the agenda is set by attendees on the day of the…
-
Project Highlight: Humanities Commons
Humanities Commons is an open, not-for-profit social and professional network and knowledge exchange environment for scholars, researchers, and practitioners across the humanities and around the world.
-
Project Highlight: The Current
The Current is a unique publication that allows students to participate in every aspect of creating a printed magazine, from writing to editing and design.
-
Distinguished Lecture: Jacqueline D. Wernimont
MSU Digital Humanities Fall 2021 Distinguished Lecture Jacqueline D. Wernimont “Visceral Data: Renderings that Matter” 4:00PM-5:30PM, October 12, 2021, Virtual I closed the book Numbered Lives: Life and Death in Quantum Media with a call “to rematerialize data, to make it into something that one can touch, feel, own, give, share, and spend time with. We can…
-
Teaching Highlight: Language and Cultures and LEADR
Students learned about the ethics of data collection, survey design basics, and how to analyze survey results. The hands-on workshops used two free tools, Google Forms and Voyant, to collect and visualize survey data.
-
What DH Means to Me: Amanda Tickner
Digital Humanities as a discipline often expands collaborative activity into humanities disciplines that traditionally have been focused on solo work, and I think this is valuable.
-
Project Highlight: What America Ate
This is an interactive website and online archive about food in the Great Depression, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. What were Americans eating in the Depression?