The Digital Archives Research Group was one of the first initiatives to bring digital humanities to the USM campus. The faculty workgroup, of which I was co-coordinator, investigated the problems and possibilities raised by digital archives for humanities scholars and teachers. Through events, workshops, and ongoing conversation, the interdisciplinary group explored how digital archives might be used to unsettle conventional practices, pedagogies, and methodologies. The group was guided by two questions. First, how have digital archives changed our understanding of archival materials (and, consequently, our understanding of research)? And second, how might digital archives be productively harnessed by humanities scholars and students to experiment with new ideas, methodologies, projects, and pedagogies? The group organized multiple talks, forums, workshops, and community events around archives and USM Special Collections.
