Digital Humanities Summer Fellowships Cohort Archive

scholars in the fellowship program having a lively discussion at the conference table

The Simpson Center offers annual summer fellowships for faculty and doctoral students to pursue research projects that use digital technologies in innovative and intensive ways and/or explore the historical, social, aesthetic, and cross-cultural implications of digital cultures. The program has three primary goals:

  • To animate knowledge—using rich media, dynamic databases, and visualization tools
  • To circulate knowledge—among diverse publics
  • To understand digital culture—historically, theoretically, aesthetically, and generatively

UW faculty and doctoral candidates are eligible to apply either on an individual basis or in teams for Digital Humanities Summer Fellowships every fall. Where research in the humanities is often undertaken by a single scholar, this program enables faculty and graduate students to collaborate with each other as well as with designers, information technologists, and librarians. Applications from scholars using the open-source multimodal authoring and publishing platforms are particularly encouraged; the Simpson Center is an affiliate of the Alliance for Networking Visual Culture. Review additional eligibility and application information for faculty and graduate students

Up to 8 scholars—4 faculty and 4 doctoral students—will be selected each year; they will be required to be in residence for 6-8 weeks during the summer and will meet weekly to share their research. In addition to summer salary, each will have a research budget that can be used for expenses such as hourly support and software.

The Simpson Center gratefully acknowledges the support of a National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as well as many donors to the endowment which is underwriting these fellowships.

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Cohort Archives

2024 - 2025 Summer Fellows

Oya Rose Aktaş
Doctoral Candidate
History
Jesse Cavalari
Doctoral Candidate
History
Heekyoung Cho looks to the left while wearing glasses.
Associate Professor
Asian Languages & Literature
Diana Flores Ruíz
Assistant Professor
Cinema & Media Studies
Amelia Lehosit
Doctoral Candidate
English
LaShawnDa Pittman
Associate Professor
American Ethnic Studies
Anna Preus stands outside wearing a dark jacket and striped shirt.
Assistant Professor
English
Adair Rounthwaite sits on a blue chair wearing a pink sweater.
Associate Professor and Chair
Art History
Jingrui Yan
Graduate Student
Cinema & Media Studies

2023 - 2024 Summer Fellows

Mal Ahern looks at a roll of film that has been unwound.
Assistant Professor
Cinema & Media Studies
Portrait photo of Taiko against a white curtain background
Doctoral Candidate
English
Photo of Gabrielle Benabdallah wearing a dark shirt and standing in front of a beige wall.
Doctoral Candidate
Human Centered Design and Engineering
Melinda Cohoon looks into the camera while standing in front of a dark background.
Doctoral Candidate
Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Portrait of Hannah Frydman standing in front of a brown wall wearing glasses.
Assistant Professor
French & Italian Studies
A close-up portrait of Bettina Judd wearing glasses and a dark shirt.
Assistant Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Nathanael in front of a backdrop of green foliage, smiling while wearing a blue blazer and floral shirt.
Doctoral Student
Human Centered Design and Engineering
Cristina Sánchez-Martín looks into the camera while standing in front of a white wall.
Assistant Professor
English
Headshot of Melanie Walsh standing in front of a grey wall wearing glasses.
Assistant Professor
Information School

2022 - 2023 Summer Fellows

Andreas P. Bassett stands in front of a large shrubbery while wearing a dark jacket blue shirt and tie.
Doctoral Candidate
English
A black and white portrait of Sarah Choi.
Doctoral Student
Cinema & Media Studies
Sonia De La Cruz looks to the right while standing behind a camera on a tripod.
Assistant Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Tacoma
A portrait of Jasmine Mahmoud standing in front of a bookcase.
Assistant Professor
School of Drama
Sarah Moore stands outside while wearing a read cardigan and white shirt.
Doctoral Candidate
English
Anna Preus stands outside wearing a dark jacket and striped shirt.
Assistant Professor
English
A portrait of Leah Rubinsky standing in front of a body of water.
Doctoral Candidate
Comparative Literature
Christopher Teuton sits in front of a bookcase wearing a maroon shirt.
Professor and Chair
American Indian Studies
Samantha Thompson stands in front of a beige wall while wearing glasses and a jacket.
Doctoral Candidate
Geography

2021 - 2022 Summer Fellows

Profile of Beatrice in front of a book case. She has short brown hair and is wearing a sweater while smiling at the camera.
Associate Professor
French & Italian Studies
Close-up portrait of Gözde in black white. She is smiling at the camera with her hair parted to the side, half in front of her shoulder and on the other side behind her shoulder.
PhD Candidate
Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Jin-Kyu smiling at the camera in a blue sweater with blurred book stacks in the background
Associate Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
Nora smiling at the camera, shoulder length hair framing her face, wearing a black a v-neck sweater and standing in front of a gray background
Associate Professor
School of Nursing
medium close-up of Yandong. He is on the left of the frame in a black t-shirt looking at the camera. To the right is a light flare form the setting sun, while the background shows buildings and a park.
Doctoral Candidate
Cinema & Media Studies
Ayda smiling at the camera in a beige blazer and white shirt, curly hair pulled halfway back and a gray background
PhD Candidate
Near and Middle Eastern Studies
profile of Juliet Shields: short red hair, smiling at the camera, wearing a black blazer and shirt
Professor
English
profile of Maya Smith smiling at the camera, hair pulled back with some curls along the left side, wearing a red top under a blue blazer with a necklace
Associate Professor
French & Italian Studies
Close up of Hope smiling at the camera, long hair parted the side and in front of her right shoulder, behind her left shoulder. She is wearing a green patterned top and the backdrop is a cream color.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Anthropology

2020 - 2021 Summer Fellows

Ying-Hsiu Chou stands in front of a white wall wearing a dark shirt.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Asian Languages & Literature
Melinda Cohoon looks into the camera while standing in front of a dark background.
Doctoral Candidate
Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Cricket Keating sits behind a desk wearing a red and grey sweater.
Associate Professor
Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Laurie Marhoefer stands in front of a white brick wall wearing a grey shirt.
Associate Professor and Jon Bridgman Endowed Professor of History
Department of History
A black and white portrait of Leila Kate Norako
Assistant Professor
English
Portrait of Solmaz Shakerifard wearing glasses.
Doctoral Candidate
Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Taylor Soja wears a black shirt and tan jacket.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of History
Geoffrey Turnovsky stands outside wearing a black shirt and grey jacket.
Chair and Associate Professor of French
French & Italian Studies

2019 - 2020 Summer Fellows

Portrait of Jennifer Bean
Associate Professor
Cinema & Media Studies
Portrait of Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse
Assistant Professor and Curator of Northwest Art
Art History
Portrait of Ellen Y. Chang standing in front of a blurred background and wearing a blue collared shirt.
Graduate Student
Cinema & Media Studies
Portrait of Amanda Doxtater
Associate Professor
Department of Scandinavian Studies
A black and white portrait of Leila Kate Norako
Assistant Professor
English
Isaac Rivera
Doctoral Student
Department of Geography
Portrait of Judy Twedt
Graduate Student
Climate Data Sonification
Portrait of Rachel Schlotfeldt
Doctoral Candidate
English

2018 - 2019 Summer Fellows

Abraham Avnisan stands in front of a white wall wearing a patterned shirt.
Assistant Professor
School of Emerging Media and Technology and School of Media and Journalism at Kent State University
Kristin Dew stands in front of a dark wall wearing a white shirt and dark jacket.
Assistant Teaching Professor
Human Centered Design & Engineering
James Gregory stands outside wearing glasses.
Professor, Williams Endowed Professor, and Associate Chair
Department of History
Jin-Kyu smiling at the camera in a blue sweater with blurred book stacks in the background
Associate Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
Verena Kick stands in front of a bookcase wearing glasses and a dark shirt.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of German Studies
Jocelyn Moon stands outside wearing a dark shirt.
Doctoral Candidate
School of Music
Sarah Ross sits on a beach looking toward the water.
Doctoral Candidate
Cinema & Media Studies
Phillip Thurtle wears a blue shirt and glasses.
Professor and Director
Comparative History of Ideas

2017 - 2018 Summer Fellows

Portrait of Dan Berger leaning against a brick wall
Associate Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
Portrait of Negin Dahya
Affiliate Assistant Professor
Information School
Portrait of Michael Degerald
Doctoral Candidate
Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Portrait of José I. Fusté
Assistant Professor
Ethnic Studies
Portrait of Roneva Keel
PhD Graduate
History
Portrait of alma khasawnih
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Portrait of Eleanor Mahoney
Doctoral Candidate
History
Portrait of Jade Power-Sotomayor
Assistant Professor
Performance Studies
Sarah Ross sits on a beach looking toward the water.
Doctoral Candidate
Cinema & Media Studies
Portrait of Sasha Welland
Associate Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies

2016 - 2017 Summer Fellows

Matthew Bellinger stands in front of a white wall wearing a patterned shirt and glasses.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Communication
A black and white image of Darren Byler wearing glasses.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Anthropology
Josephine Ensign stands in front of a gray wall wearing a purple scarf and shirt..
Professor
School of Nursing
Benjamin Gardner sits in front of a black wall.
Associate Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
Stephen Groening looking at a computer monitor
Associate Professor
Cinema & Media Studies
Brian Gutierrez stands in front of a door wearing a suit and tie.
Senior Instructional Designer
University of Washington
Minda Martin sits outside wearing a denim jacket and patterned shirt.
Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
Jane Wong stands in front of a patterned wall wearing a grey shirt.
Doctoral Candidate
English

2015 - 2016 Summer Fellows

Headshot of Tyler Babbie
Part-Time Lecturer
English
Portrait of Luke Bergmann
Associate Professor
Department of Geography
Portrait of Tad Hirsch
Professor
Art + Design
James Gregory stands outside wearing glasses.
Professor, Williams Endowed Professor, and Associate Chair
Department of History
 K. Mehmet Kentel
Doctoral Candidate
Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Portrait of Sarah Kremen-Hicks
Doctoral Candidate
English
Phillip Thurtle wears a blue shirt and glasses.
Professor and Director
Comparative History of Ideas
Portrait of Shuxuan Zhou
Doctoral Candidate
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies

2014 - 2015 Summer Fellows

Annie Fee sits in front of a dark wall wearing a blue shirt.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Comparative Literature
P. Joshua Griffin sits in front of a gray wall wearing glasses, a blue shirt, and a dark jacket.
Assistant Professor
American Indian Studies
Portrait of Michelle Habell-Pallán
Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Jeffrey Knight wears a plaid shirt and glasses.
Associate Professor
English
Pamela Pietrucci stands in front of a brick wall wearing glasses an a green shirt.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Communication
Sonnet Retman sits in front of a dark wall wearing a grey shirt and green necklace.
Associate Professor
American Ethnic Studies
Portrait of Sasha Welland
Associate Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies

2018 - 2019 Digital Humanities Summer Fellow

Jocelyn Moon stands outside wearing a dark shirt.

Jocelyn Moon (she/her/hers)

Doctoral Candidate

Going Mobile: Reciprocating Field Research with Sharable Media

In the course of this project, I seek to create several short digital stories based on my ethnographic research about an instrument from the borderlands of Zimbabwe and Mozambique called matepe. The purpose of these videos is to share the ideas of my dissertation project with the people in Northeastern Zimbabwe who participated in the research. I will share them primarily through private social networks on mobile phones as well as through my research blog in order to reach diasporic, community music, and academic audiences.