Students in the Digital Humanities Institute at the University of North Florida are combining technology, historical research and art to provide the community with easily accessible and invaluable information.

The DHI provides students with a learning experience combining humanities, fine arts, and social sciences. For students who do not have a focus on digital humanities, the institute has a studio available including a podcast room and equipment that can be checked out.

There are multiple projects that the DHI has worked on over the years, such as the annual tradition of Voces y Caras at the UNF Gallery of Art, presenting student and community heritage stories. Or the Embroidery for Peace and Memory project where students can embroider designs and statements for other students to see displayed in various locations. 

Rook Breede, a UNF graphic design student, said she has participated in the Embroidery for Peace and Memory project more than once. 

“What I love about this event is the community, getting everybody together to create and teaching people how to create from their minds and hearts in this physical space,” Breede said.

A common phrase for DHI events is “community” because that is what each project is focused on.

“The important thing is to celebrate community, and I think that’s what we highlight here,” Dr. Constanza López, professor and event coordinator for the Voces y Caras said. “Not only the community outside, but the community here.” 

López also said that when artwork is chosen for display in the Gallery, it is chosen based on how well it reflects identity.

UNF digital humanities projects “bring stories to life”

Dr. James Beasley, director of the UNF DHI, along with students from his course, participated in a project with the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center in St. Augustine, Fla. Beasley said that students worked with pension records to find information about the widows of the United States Colored Troops who had fought in the Civil War. The widows were all denied their pensions and had to prove their identity through a process other widows of soldiers did not have to, according to the UNF Newsroom. This project particularly shared the stories of the widows’ and their resilience through the process.

Now, the institute and Beasley are currently working on a project focused on a tombstone found on the Jacksonville University campus. The tombstone belongs to a soldier Beasley had previously read about while working on the pensions project in 2020.

Beasley found out about the tombstone after a Jacksonville community leader contacted him.

Today, the DHI can provide the community leader with information learned previously from the pension record project done in 2020. 

This information has allowed the Army to make a new headstone for the soldier. There will also be a memorial park built on the JU campus for this soldier, according to Beasley. 

“I always think of digital humanities as an access for action in the sense that we’re helping students and faculty bring stories to life through information from the archives or special collections,” Beasley said. 

How students can get involved in digital humanities

While UNF does not have a digital humanities major, there are other associated achievements students can work toward related to the field. Students can obtain a digital humanities minor, a graduate certificate and will soon have the option to obtain three different digital badging options, according to Beasley. 

According to Beasley, the three badges will be for archival research, textual digital editing, and metadata curation technology.

The institute is also currently working on creating a digital humanities PhD, which will provide a unique opportunity to UNF students.

“Right now, there’s not really any digital humanities PhD programs in the United States. But, students getting a PhD in digital humanities would be able to establish stronger DHI centers at institutions across the country,” Beasley said. 

According to Beasley, there are about 25 affiliated faculty from all across UNF and different colleges that participate in DHI projects. These projects all aim to make a lasting impact on the community both within UNF and beyond.

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