The contemporary use of technology is having a direct impact on the work humanists do: from how they conduct research to the way they present their findings. New digital tools are constantly emerging that help scholars gather and interpret data in innovative ways. At the UMass Digital Humanities Initiative (DHI), we are working to ensure that faculty and students have access to such tools for their research and receive training in new technologies and methods as they emerge.

Funded by the College of Humanities & Fine Arts, the Digital Humanities Initiative seeks to support and initiate research projects within the digital humanities broadly conceived. The Digital Humanities Initiative is composed of core HFA faculty whose research directly engages digital materials in a variety of ways, focusing on:

  • new tools to facilitate research, including those that allow scholars to pose new questions or to analyze data in ways that are impossible or cumbersome without digital tools
  • critical studies of digital culture and the changing nature of text, image, and sound in digital settings
  • digital platforms for creative expression and artistic endeavors
  • scholarly communication and the engagement of researchers with broader publics