The HASTAC Scholars Program is designed for graduate students who are working on innovative projects and research at the intersection of technology and the arts, humanities, and sciences. Each year, a cohort of scholars from over 75 universities nationwide is accepted into this student community.

During the 2011-12 academic year, Melody Dworak and Katherine Montgomery represented the University of Iowa as HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Sciences, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory) Scholars. As scholars, they blogged about digital activities at the UI, hosted forums, organized events and discussed current news and projects.

The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, the Digital Studio for the Public Humanities, and the Center for Teaching fund two scholars each year to report on digital innovations that enhance teaching and learning and research efforts in humanities fields at the University of Iowa.

“The big things gained from being HASTAC Scholars were seeing how to bring people together for conversation and how creating space for conversation can get work done,” says Montgomery, a doctoral student in English who studies Romantic and Victorian British literature. “The other big thing was getting people more comfortable with the digital humanities and concepts.”

Dworak, who earned a Master’s Degree in the School of Library and Information Science in May 2012, found it rewarding to explore digital humanities and literacy.

Dworak and Montgomery organized THATCamp (The Humanities And Technology Camp) Iowa City, an event held March 31-April 1 at the University of Iowa Main Library. With a goal of facilitating interdisciplinary conversation and campus collaboration, THATCamp followed an “unconference” format, without pre-planned panels or presenters. Instead, the schedule consisted of discussion sessions on topics voted on by THATCampers on the first day of camp.

THATCamp Iowa City had 87 registrants, with 65 attending workshops and/or discussion sessions.

“Being able to bring communities together and have discussions and forge relationships that might have a long future was great,” Dworak says. “We were able to think about different topics and gain skills that we wouldn’t be able to build on our own.”

Dworak drew upon her experience as a HASTAC Scholar during her master’s project.

Finding inspiration in the crowdsourcing efforts of digital humanities projects, Dworak created a master’s poster that explored motivational factors behind amateur enthusiasts contributing labor to digital research projects. Her research poster was unanimously granted the highest mark–Passed with Distinction—by the School of Library and Information Science.

“Being a HASTAC Scholar really influenced this project for sure,” Dworak says. “My interests lie in getting people to contribute stories about their community or photos they have from the 1950s to add to a digital collection. I’m interested in how libraries can use this strategy to build connections in their communities.”

Montgomery’s research in Romantic and Victorian British literature focuses particularly on nationalism and gender studies. Her interests in the digital humanities include textual analysis and crowdsourcing work on digital archives.

“We want to hold onto the scope that we’ve been doing, like the close reading, for last 100 years,” Montgomery says. “We don’t want to push that aside, but also use the digital skills as a complement.

“Being a HASTAC Scholar really changed the way I think about how the different parts of the academy work together.”