When I think about our digital future and the human researcher experience, I think about the significance of transformation. Our researchers, perform the rigors of a discipline, can see the target, yet flounder when imagining strategies to articulate scholarship in ways alternate to the monograph, thesis, or journal article. We began our micro credential course development with the intent to teach researchers how to plan for an idea, then a project. 

We chose this path to help cultivate the abilities of very smart researchers with a foundation of collaborative plan and project development that would be manageable and sustainable. We have learned in the 18 months of offering these courses is how significant a transformation this approach has for our researchers. It is humbling to watch researchers collaborate with web and stack developers, data analysts, and database developers to plan short and long-term digital futures that address both the specific audience of peers and the larger body of knowledge seekers. 

Our three-tiered Micro Credential certificate program addresses all three of our community research members, researchers, graduate and undergraduate students. Each level of the program meets the informational and decision-making needs of our community. The Research program offers an understanding of short- and long-term plan development that includes grant writing and development. The graduate program focuses on research projects produced as an element or supporting analysis of a thesis or dissertation. Focus on workflows, strategies, and analytics enables the student to produce deliverables in concert with thesis or dissertations. The undergraduate program creates a student body with a language for the plan and project development environments produced by researchers and primary investigators. Undergraduates with skillsets complementary to research projects (database administration, web development/design, data science, analytics and visualizations) get the benefit of skill application, and experiential learning.

Courses are offered to graduate and undergraduates in the spring and fall during the first eight weeks of term on Fridays. A two-week Research workshop is offered each June. All courses are synchronous and virtual. In addition to the training courses, we offer at minimum a year of support and consultation for any projects undertaken post training. 

For more information: Micro-credential in the Digital Humanities.

Best,

Linda Garcia Merchant, Ph.D.
Director, Digital Humanities Core