Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI) - Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI)

The Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI) was created in 2021 to enable trans-disciplinary collaborations that emphasize questions of power, social justice, and critical theory in digital humanities research. It is flourishing as a tri-campus research initiative and enabling a new mix of research workshops and design ateliers, equipping humanities researchers with the technical and design expertise to use digital tools to ask new questions, share new knowledge, and analyze power and inequality in historical perspective. Beginning in July 2025, CDHI transitions from its home at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) to the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC). This marks an exciting new step in the longstanding collaboration between CDHI and a range of UTSC campus partners and faculty.

CDHI team

CDHI events

Learn more about CDHI

CDHI Annual Report | 2024-2025

In 2024-25, CDHI faculty members published 119 innovative scholarly creations, hosted 16 events, and produced 19 digital research stories.

The Future of CDHI Moves to UTSC

In partnership with the UTSC, the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI) is excited to announce that their important will transition into a new home at UTSC on July 1, 2025.

DH Fest 2025

Celebrate four years of CDHI at the University of Toronto! Join us for engaging, facilitated conversations about the future of critical DH, digital research creation, and digital knowledge mobilization. You will have an opportunity to connect with brilliant, innovative researchers and to meet new colleagues – all while reflecting on four years building of critical […]

CDHI Year 3 Annual Report

CDHI's work this year focused on building critical digital research infrastructure and creating pathways for social transformation. Explore the full report to see how CDHI is empowering the next generation of scholars.

Welcoming Interim Faculty Director, Prof. Claire Battershill

CDHI is pleased to welcome Claire Battershill (Assistant Professor, iSchool and English) as Interim Faculty Director, 01 July to 31 December 2024, while Elspeth Brown, takes a six-month administrative leave after the conclusion of her role as Associate Vice-Principal Research (UTM). Claire is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Information and the Department of English at the University of Toronto and holds the Wendy M. Cecil Professorship at Victoria College.

DHFest 2024

DH FEST 2024, a research showcase and celebration of three years of CDHI, highlights critical digital humanities research and knowledge mobilization at UofT. The program will feature lightning talks from faculty and postdoctoral fellows and posters from graduate and undergraduate researchers. DH Fest will also showcase new work in creative knowledge mobilization, including digital research storytelling and interactive projects developed through the CDHI Accelerator program.

CDHI Launches Indigenous Digital Practice Initiative for 2023-24

September 29, 2023

Dr. Jennifer Wemigwans to lead IDP as Director The Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI) is pleased to announce that we are launching the Indigenous Digital Practice initiative, with the goal of building strengths in Indigenous Digital Practice among university and community-based Indigenous researchers. We recognize that there are significant strengths in Indigenous digital practice and Indigenous data […]

Critical Digital Humanities International Conference

September 9, 2022

Sept 30 to Oct 1, 2022. This year’s conference foregrounds critical DH research, praxis, and community partnerships.

CDHI 2022-23 Annual report

September 6, 2022

CDHI 2021-22 Annual Report

It's been a big year for CDHI — and the numbers are in! 2022-23 included a robust event schedule, numerous funding opportunities, a growing online community, and new staff to welcome to the team. Learn about their first year in the 2021-22 Annual Report:

Diptych showing headshots for Cara Krmpotich, left, and Heidi Bohaker, right.

Critical Digital Humanities Initiative to examine history through lens of power, social justice

December 9, 2021

From wampum belts to historical photographs, Cara Krmpotich and Heidi Bohaker are seeking to digitally reunite thousands of Indigenous artifacts from the Great Lakes region with the communities who once created them. The pair of University of Toronto researchers lead an international team that aims to decolonize museum practices by creating a database, or “knowledge sharing system,” that, for […]

U of T Mississauga researcher leads new Critical Digital Humanities Initiative

Elspeth Brown, a professor in U of T Mississauga’s department of historical studies, describes digital humanities as an interdisciplinary field that bridges the humanities and computational or digital studies.

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