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The Center for Digital Humanities

Call for HASTAC Scholars 2021-2022

Posted by on Monday, October 18, 2021 in Events.

HASTAC Scholars Program Call for Applications, 2021-2022

 The Vanderbilt HASTAC network is now accepting applications for the 2021-22 HASTAC Scholars Program! Graduate students interested in learning more about digital humanities and gaining hands-on experience with DH practice are encouraged to apply.

 

HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory) is a global network of individuals and institutions brought together by their shared interest in the intersections of digital media, 21st-century education, digital humanities, science, technology, and the arts. The HASTAC scholarship competition is open to any graduate student with an interest in arts, humanities, science, and technology. Up to nine Vanderbilt University graduate students will be appointed as HASTAC Scholars in 2021-22.

 

The Vanderbilt program awards HASTAC Scholars a $500 stipend for their one-year appointment (renewable for a second year), on top of the opportunity to:

  • Join a robust and close-knit community of Vanderbilt faculty, students, and staff who are committed to innovative interdisciplinary work that brings together arts and technology
  • Connect with the worldwide network of HASTAC scholars
  • Publish on the HASTAC blog
  • Gain digital humanities experience through project work with a mentor
  • Attend a virtual digital humanities conference, with registration fee support up to $200

 

At Vanderbilt, HASTAC Scholars are matched with University centers and programs that serve as project mentors. Scholars work either on an already-existing digital project or develop a new project in consultation with their mentors. In addition to working with their mentoring centers, HASTAC Scholars serve as Vanderbilt’s ambassadors to the global HASTAC program.

 

Eligibility: Applicants must be enrolled in a Vanderbilt University graduate program in 2021-2022 and be in good standing. 

 

Requirements: In addition to their work on a digital project, Scholars should plan to participate in HASTAC’s global community.

 

  • Contribute 25 hours of work to the proposed DH project with their campus partner
  • Contribute a blog post to HASTAC’s website (this can include reporting on relevant activities at Vanderbilt)
  • Contribute to HASTAC Scholars discussion forums, either by hosting or commenting
  • Build community and conversation by commenting, tweeting, covering conferences, helping to organize local meetups, and meeting regularly with other HASTAC Scholars and representatives from their sponsoring centers
  • Attend a monthly Vanderbilt HASTAC Scholars Zoom meeting to build community and discuss your project
  • Provide a brief year-end report in Spring 2022 detailing your accomplishments during your time as a HASTAC Scholar.

 

Application process

Complete the online application by 11:59 pm CT on Wednesday, November 3, 2021. The application will ask you for the following:

 

  • A curriculum vitae
  • Your preferred sponsoring centers (see below)
  • A brief letter of interest indicating how participation in HASTAC would benefit the applicant and how the applicant could contribute to DH at Vanderbilt
  • The email address of your primary academic advisor (advisors do not need to submit recommendations but will be contacted to verify applicants’ standing and residency)

 Selection criteria:

  • Evidence that the applicant understands and shares HASTAC’s core values.
  • Evidence that the applicant’s academic and professional goals will benefit from participation in HASTAC.
  • Evidence of benefits to Vanderbilt and/or the local community from the applicant’s participation.

 

Sponsoring centers: Each HASTAC Scholar will be affiliated with one of the following centers. Be prepared to identify your preferred sponsoring centers in your application. We cannot guarantee top choices, but will consider your preference when matching HASTAC Scholars to centers.

  • Center for Second Language Studies: The Scholar affiliated with CSLS will show a keen interest in exploring teaching, learning, and research in second languages and cultures through the use of technology. The scholar will collaborate with CSLS graduate student affiliates, interact with faculty, and participate in CSLS working groups. In addition, the Scholar will be involved in CSLS events, particularly professional development workshops.
    • Existing project: The Scholar will help to develop Language Panda, contributing to website development and building content by creating innovative teaching methodologies based on technology.
    • New project: Open to suggestions from applicant.

 

  • Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy: The Curb Center’s Scholar will collaborate with the faculty and other graduate student fellows on digital media projects to promote social engagement. The scholar will have the opportunity to receive training and support in the Public Humanities and the Public Policy process, and will have access to all the Curb Center studios (recording, podcasting, video, gaming, and fabric arts) for technical instruction and project development.

 

  • Center for Teaching: The mission of the Center for Teaching is to promote university teaching that leads to meaningful learning. The CFT does so by helping members of the Vanderbilt community become more effective teachers through a variety of programs, services, and resources. The CFT’s HASTAC Scholar should have an interest in the use of technology in humanities teaching and in podcasting. The Scholar will conduct two interviews on the topic of digital pedagogy for the CFT’s educational technology podcast, Leading Lines, working with the CFT’s executive director to identify guests to interview, internal or external to Vanderbilt.

 

  • Digital Commons at Vanderbilt: The Digital Commons is a new faculty development initiative of the Vanderbilt Libraries. Its mission is to equip Vanderbilt faculty with the skills they need to use digital technologies in their research and teaching. The Digital Commons’ HASTAC Scholar should have an interest in the use of technology in research and scholarship and in faculty development. The Scholar will convert elements of Digital Commons workshops and panels to on-demand resources for the Digital Commons website, working with the director and other staff of the Digital Commons to do so.

 

  • Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, Office of Digital Scholarship and Communications: Digital Scholarship and communications are interdisciplinary fields in librarianship that facilitate the production and dissemination of academic research through the use of emerging digital tools and applications, while enhancing the communication of and access to the results of this research. Broadly speaking, the Office provides support to students and faculty members in the areas of copyright, linked data, data curation and analysis, digital humanities, geographic information systems, open access publishing, and scholarly repositories. The Office’s Scholar will be involved in planning and delivering education and training opportunities or promoting the open dissemination of scholarship.
    • Existing project: The Scholar will contribute to an existing working group or facilitate a new working group. The Scholar will also help organize or promote events supporting open access, GIS, or online privacy and intellectual freedom.
    • New project:  The Scholar will either assist in identifying faculty and student perceptions of where digital scholarship services exist on campus, or assist in developing processes to support discovery and access to scholarship through wikidata and the institutional repository.

 

  • The Nashville Sites Project: Funded and hosted by the Nashville Metropolitan Historical Commission Foundation, Nashville Sites focuses on creating walking and driving tours that incorporate scholarly research with historic sites in Nashville, with delivery available on all devices: mobile, tablet, and desktop. Tours are constructed through layered process that combines many DH skills including: CMS infrastructure based on Omeka, GIS digital map building using Mapbox, archival and academic research, fieldwork, and writing/editing. In addition to 23 current tours, plans for 2021 include the following walking and driving tours: North Nashville, East Nashville, LGBTQ+, Athens of the South, Immigration. The Vanderbilt University Center for Digital Humanities is also a project sponsor.

  

  • Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities: The Warren Center’s Scholar will be a dynamic participant in the life of this interdisciplinary research center and will be encouraged to participate in a variety of Warren Center activities and assist with events and projects throughout the year. Specifically, scholar will assist with communications projects and programming and will explore the use of digital tools to enhance the Center’s historical archive. 

 

  • Vanderbilt Center for Digital Humanities: The Vanderbilt Center for Digital Humanities supports projects, public communication, and teaching at the intersection of digital technology and humanities research. The HASTAC Scholar for the Center for Digital Humanities will have the opportunity to:
    • Collaborate on an existing project related to mapping, text analysis, web/graphic design, gaming, VR/AR, 3D modeling, Public Humanities
    • Or develop their own project with these or related technologies and methods. If you would like to develop your own project, please include a description of your project idea in your statement of interest.