Summer IDEaS

Summer IDEaS (Institute for Digital Exploration at Schaffer) is a library-taught and paid student research opportunity whose purpose is to introduce a small cohort of Union College students from across the disciplines to the digital humanities, a field that aims to use digital tools and methods to explore questions from the humanities, as well as critique technology using humanist methods. We solicit applications each spring for participation in the summer cohort. No experience with digital humanities or digital scholarship is required to participate--just curiosity, excitement, and willingness to experiment and collaborate.

Summer IDEaS cohorts

2023 COHORT

Due to staffing shortages and projects at the library, Summer IDEaS will not be held.

2022 cohort

The 2022 theme was “Collections as Data,” and students learned and applied digital tools and methods to digitized nineteenth-century letters from Special Collections. This year's cohort explored this historical material through data visualization, including network analysis, mapping, and text analysis. The cohort included Ginde Baker, Denali Douglas, and Julian Zapata-Hall. Their explorations of the life and work of John Bigelow formed their visualization and data analysis work.

2021 Cohort

Last year's 2021 Summer IDEaS cohort included Amanda Blakeman, Sam De Spuches, and Paxton Ouellette. They created a digital edition of the first part of the Diaries of Jonathan Pearson, a famous Union College alumnus and professor.