Salem State Receives $40,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Salem State University has received a $40,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It will fund efforts to create a network of public, regional universities that share best practices on the adoption, teaching and research in digital humanities. The grant was secured by Salem State University English professor Roopika Risam and archives librarian Susan Edwards.

“Regional state universities often lack the resources to engage faculty, students and community partners to the extent possible when it comes to the digital humanities,” said Risam. “This network will allow regional universities across the U.S. access to a community of practitioners as they work to bring digital humanities to those they serve.”

"Universities such as ours have a role as 'stewards of place,'” said Edwards. “There are exciting opportunities for these institutions to engage in community-based public humanities projects as well as to establish partnerships between the universities and local cultural organizations."

The initiative’s long-term goal is to activate and grow this network so regional comprehensive digital humanities practitioners are better suited to share their knowledge and resources with each other and share their expertise with others across a range of institutions, including K-12, community colleges, small liberal arts colleges, and research universities.

Efforts to create this national network will begin with a summit in which practitioners will identify and develop shared curricular goals and explore the kind of professional development that would support digital humanities engagement. The summit, to take place at Salem State University, is being planned for July of 2018. It will be followed by the creation of a website that will serve as the basis of the network.