Digital technology is changing how critical scholarship in the humanities is presented and disseminated. Websites, databases and multimedia can make archival material such as maps, photos or documents more accessible and interactive, while also providing crucial context.
Since 2022, the Critical Digital Humanities Institute’s (CDHI) UX Design for DH Accelerator Program has brought more than a dozen digital projects to life, covering topics as diverse as culinary heritage, queer histories and traditional knowledge of natural phenomena.
The program connects U of T researchers with a user experience (UX) designer, a digital humanities developer, experts in research design, ethics, and project management, and divisional digital scholarship librarians. Together, they create project-specific and customized digital spaces and tools to showcase work about the project, all in the space of 10 weeks. The UX designer position is filled by a Master of Information Student from U of T's Faculty of Information as a co-op placement, with trainees benefitting from research experience and networking opportunities, as well as building their portfolios.
Examples of digital humanities projects brought to life through the program include:
This digital exhibit showcases archival records of Black dance in Canada and additional artistic discourse around these records in our modern perspective. (PI: Seika Boye, Assistant Professor, Centre for Drama, Theatre, & Performance Studies, Faculty of Arts & Science)
On September 15, 2000, Toronto police raided the Pussy Palace, the last police raid of a queer bathhouse in Canadian history. This interactive, immersive digital exhibit uses audio, video and other media to showcase the history of the Pussy Palace (later renamed the Pleasure Palace to acknowledge the diversity of bodies and gender identities that made use of this space) from 1975 until the present. (PI: Elspeth Brown, Professor, Historical Studies, UTM)
This research project centres around European Women who joined the Islamic State, what happened to them and their children, the media discourse surrounding their citizenship, and the effect this discourse had around other Muslim citizens in Europe. (PI: Anna Korteweg, Professor, Sociology, UTM)