Western offers new Digital Humanities minor

Western is offering a new minor in Digital Humanities, thanks to a collaboration between the Global Humanities and Religions Department and the Computer Science Department’s Internet Studies Center (ISC). 

The Digital Humanities minor involves a combination of computing and humanities research, offering students interested in computer science an entrance into humanities study, and humanities students a grounding in digital tools. Through the design and use of computational tools and methods, digital humanities is characterized by an engagement with collaborative and interdisciplinary modes of knowledge production, scholarship, publishing, and teaching.

“The minor is an exciting interdisciplinary collaboration that brings together curriculum in the College of Science and Engineering with courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences,” Professor of Humanities Kimberly Lynn said. “Digital Humanities is a field that is on the forefront of new scholarship in the Humanities, and it offers many different opportunities.”

The program includes a sequence of core courses offered by the ISC that involve a combination of web programming, creative problem-solving, and critical reflection on the historic development of the internet and its evolving societal implications. These select CSCI/ISC courses, including a new CSCI digital humanities class, are then combined with three courses from humanities departments that build knowledge of methods of humanistic study and research. All students then complete a capstone project or portfolio that draws together their digital humanities coursework. 

Interested students can contact Professor Kimberly Lynn at lynnk3@wwu.edu or the Global Humanities and Religions Department at ghr@wwu.edu to declare or for advising.