Humanities faculty have a growing interest in the ways technology can help advance teaching and research, and in the development and use of digital archives to support classroom learning and independent scholarship. In response to these interests, we will open the Humanities Digital Workshop (HDW) in Eads Hall during the fall 2004 semester. As with most of our technology-based initiatives, we will start small, learning as we go, and building further where we see the potential for positive impact.

The 1999 rededication of Eads Hall as a center for teaching and technology was predicated on the assumption that we needed to be flexible, ready to adapt and respond to changing needs of faculty and students.  In the few years since Eads was renovated a technology based language translation lab gave way to an American Culture Studies lab, which now serves the needs of Film and Media Studies and Performing Arts faculty and students. A media lab was established two years ago, and the Graduate Student Lab for Teaching and Technology has undergone a number of programmatic and technological changes. Facilities and services in Eads continue to evolve to more closely support the curriculum and priorities in Arts & Sciences.

We have nearly completed renovation of space in Eads Hall which will serve as the HDW. The area includes workspace for both dedicated project activity and “walk-in” needs of faculty and students. In the case of  dedicated projects, we plan a space that includes computer workstations; special digitizing stations; storage cabinets where supplies can be secured; and color printers.  A sound booth and taping equipment will be available to support oral history projects, language study and others and a special server will be reserved to support digital projects. Walk-in users may use the space for access to digitizing and other equipment, as well as for help in preparing materials for class.

The HDW is housed in the space formerly designated as the foreign- language lab. Based on an analysis of usage, we believe that the language lab facility was largely underutilized. By reconfiguring this space, we can increase the number of computers providing language specific software programs from 11 machines previously available in Eads 007 to 54 machines available in several open labs in Eads.  Language-lab materials and equipment check-out services will continue to be offered by the new HDW, while A/V and computer services to support language-instruction will be moved to other locations in Eads.  Importantly, no language instruction services now provided in Eads will be discontinued.  Instead, we hope to expand these services. For more information about services, see the developing HDW website at http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~hdw/.

At the start, A&SC staff (including full-time technology staff and part-time students) will be available to coordinate activities and provide help. A new position has also been created to allow us to develop programming expertise and support Humanities faculty.

Faculty oversight of this physical, technological, and human resource, will be provided by a small committee co-chaired by Gerald Early and Dennis Martin. The group will help encourage the use of the HDW and establish priorities for dedicated projects to be supported. The first of these will be the American Lives Project, a web-based searchable resource comprised of oral histories, digitized documents, artifacts and other media.  (See the story American Culture Studies leads integration of technology into A&S curriculum  or the American Lives Project website at http://artsci.wustl.edu/~amlives.) We hope to support other digital projects, over time. 

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