• What is your current major/minor?

I will be graduating in May 2026 with a BA in journalism and minors in anthropology and digital studies.

• How did you find Digital Studies? 

Realizing I had a semester and a half left of free credits to take after completing the requirements for my degree, I looked through MSU’s list of minors. Digital studies in the arts and humanities stuck out. After speaking with Director Kristen Mapes, I was convinced and enrolled in the program.

• What do you like most about Digital Studies?

Studying culture with digital methods is an incredibly important tool in an age where more and more of our lives are being lived online. In my primary field of study, journalism, there’s a lot of handwringing over whether news organizations can adapt to our changing media environment and shortening attention spans. I see Digital Studies as part of the solution. If we want reach people, in journalism and beyond, finding innovative ways to tell stories is key.

I also love the second prong of Digital Studies — the study of digital culture. As someone whose most formative moments growing up sometimes took place, I’m embarrassed to admit, on social media, I’ve long thought the internet deserved more anthropological attention. Let’s face it: like it or not, we’re all online all day. We might as well understand it — not as a void spending time and energy doesn’t count as living, but a real place with its own culture and customs, where real people connect and do real work.

• How is Digital Studies enriching your academic experience?

My academic experience informs my career choices, and as I look for post-graduation opportunities, my Digital Studies minor has expanded my search. Journalists with multimedia experience are in high demand, and thanks to the tools I’ve learned in my Digital Studies classes, I feel like a more qualified candidate.

• What have you learned so far that you didn’t expect about Digital Studies?

I didn’t know that the Global Digital Humanities Symposium was held at MSU! 

• What advice might you have for other students as it relates to Digital Studies?

I’m always surprised by the lack of fellow journalists in my Digital Studies classes. I’d encourage others pursuing majors in the College of Communications Arts and Sciences to consider the minor. If you’re someone like me whose classes are mostly focused on writing and editing, Digital Studies is a good way to dip your toes into data and multimedia reporting without doing a concentration in broadcast or information graphics.

Do your research on topics you are passionate about. For a final project in one Digital Studies class, I originally chose the first idea that came to my mind, something that seemed easy and expected. A week or two later, I realized that I was missing out on an opportunity to do meaningful research in an area I was actually interested in. I changed the direction of my project, and the result — a network analysis where I mapped the relationships between prominent underground cartoonists of the 60s and 70s — took a lot more time, but was much more exciting.