In August 2012, Suzanne Keen, Dean of the College, formed the Digital Humanities Working Group (DHWG) to spearhead the campus initiative. This group consists of faculty and staff from various departments and units interested in the intersection of information technology and humanities research and teaching. The goal of the working group is to lead the way in establishing DH as a more commonly accepted method of teaching and research.
In 2016, the DHWG became an official university committee. The charge and current membership can be found on the Provost’s website.
In 2022, the DH Committee was officially retired. The rationale for this decision is shared below:
With the end of the Mellon grant and the creation of the DCI minor, there is very little administrative or advisory work for the committee to perform. It is more than fair to say we have accomplished our goal of making DH an accepted method of teaching and research at W&L. We have faculty at all levels creating and sustaining major DH research projects. Digital projects are a regular part of classes across a wide range of departments both within and outside of the humanities. For students looking to intentionally build their skills in DH methods, the DCI minor offered nine courses in the last academic year. Our past initiatives served as a major catalyst for pedagogical development in an era before the Harte Center existed. At the height of our activity, Brandon Bucy and Mackenzie Brooks, as co-chairs of the Digital Humanities Action Team, held over one hundred consultations with faculty in a single calendar year. As the landscape of pedagogical development on our campus has changed, the DH Committee is satisfied to see that DH is an established area of interest along with other high impact practices.