Through the 2014-15 academic year, IATL are funding a strategic project into teaching the digital humanities, led by David Beck. The thee main strands of work which the project will involve are below, and further detail will be added here shortly.

1- Digital Humanities and research-led teaching
The research of an increasing number of academics at Warwick touches upon the Digital Humanities, but by and large (and with the exception of CIM) this is not yet reflected in the teaching offer. Firstly, the project will involve assessing and learning from the existing Digital Humanities teaching here at Warwick, working with CIM in particular. With notable exceptions like Trinity and KCL, the dearth of Digital Humanities teaching at Warwick is part of a wider picture in which teaching is merely an afterthought in much Digital Humanities research and literature. Warwick’s tradition of research-led teaching gives an institutional rationale for that not to be the case, here. So, the project will encourage and assist a number of academics to use their Digital Humanities research as the basis for new modules, and/or develop existing modules to incorporate elements of Digital Humanities.

2- Digital Humanities and innovative assessment practices
Assessment practices have recently been freed up, and there is an increasing use of e.g. video-projects and online portfolios for assessment. In the 2014/15 academic year I will advise on and support Claire Rowan’s use of digital storytelling in Classics core module; as well as Giorgio Riello, Laura Schwartz and I using pod-video-casting and online portfolios in Making History. Here, I am treading familiar ground- there was formerly an e-lab providing technical support for such endeavours and Robert O’Toole continues to do so. However, the project will move beyond that both by sharing good practice more widely and by exploring further innovation. For instance, how would we assess a co-produced data visualisation? Can eportfolios include an element of digital mapping, data mining, or community-produced resources? Such questions will be explored with both students and staff through the year.

3- Digital Humanities and “the whole graduate”
Studying the Digital Humanities brings with it a range of capabilities which would be beneficial to students. Digital Literacy is now taught extensively in schools, reflecting the changing landscape of communication in the 21st century, but is only slowly becoming embedded in the university curriculum. Primarily this project will act to scope the precise needs here, both for taught courses at all levels, and also (in collaboration with the Arts and Social Science DTCs) research students. The aim will be to coordinate and mobilise existing expertise within Departments, as well as Support Services, in digital literacy- the Library, Student Careers and Skills and the Learning Development Centre, not to mention IT Services, have a number of staff who would be both able and willing to offer cross-Faculty training and to upskill academics to offer discipline-specific digital literacy teaching. Given the predominance of digital communication in the contemporary world, digital literacy is essential to our graduates and could become a real asset of Warwick’s offer at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

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