The Digital Humanities at OSU
The Digital Humanities Initiative officially began in the spring of 2016 as a response to increasing interest on the part of faculty, staff, and students in various departments, the library, and other entities on campus. Our activities have focused around the exchange of ideas through a wide range of events, including a visiting speaker series, symposia, workshops, reading groups, and other opportunities. The Digital Humanities Initiative was supported by the Office of the Dean, College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma State University, and programming is often in partnership with the OSU Library. While this project has been broadened into the Center for the Humanities, the Digital Humanities remains a prominent area of focus for the CH.
OSU’s DHI created a community of scholars and educators interested in exploring new possibilities for our research and teaching. That might include expanding the reach of one’s research, using DH tools to find new insights, and providing greater opportunity for collaboration across disciplines, colleges, and universities. Incorporating DH into courses can get students more directly involved in original, interdisciplinary research. The digital humanities also have the potential to facilitate community engagement projects, public scholarship, and other socially-oriented research and pedagogy.
We conceptualize the Digital Humanities as inclusive and accessible. In the words of Dr. Roopika Risam (visiting speaker in March 2019), “…the opportunity to intervene in the digital cultural record—to tell new stories, shed light on counter-histories, and create spaces for communities to produce and share their own knowledge should they wish—is the great promise of digital humanities” (Risam, New Digital Worlds: Postcolonial Digital Humanities in Theory, Praxis, and Pedagogy, 2018, p. 5).
Dr. Micòl Martinelli warrants special recognition for her crucial role in the creation, development, and promotion of OSU’s DHI. Dr. Martinelli served as the DHI Graduate Teaching Assistant from 2018 to 2021, and was instrumental to the Initiative’s success and expansion. Thank you, Mik!
