Digital Community Engagement at SIUE

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How a Regional University can have a Global Impact

Katherine Knowles

IRIS Center Project Manager

katknow@siue.edu

Benjamin Ostermeier

IRIS Center Technician

bosterm@siue.edu

Interdisciplinary Research and Informatics Scholarship

• Founded in 2009 by Drs. Jessica DeSpain and Kristine Hildebrandt
• Designed to support individual and collaborative scholarship

that applies digital content as a primary methodology

• Attempt to address and remedy the digital divide

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• Public, 4-year, regional university

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• Located in the Metro East across the Mississippi River from St. Louis

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• Numerous rural and urban local communities are underserved and underrepresented

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Where SIUE Students Come From

13,796 total

• More than 60% are first generation college students

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• Of Illinois students, 45% come from Madison County or St. Clair County

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Source: Office of Institutional Research and Studies, Factbook: 2018 Edition, 44 - 45, available online at http://www.siue.edu/inrs/factbook/index.shtm.

The Digital Divide at a Regional University

“The digital divide isn’t just experienced by students; the concentration of informatics scholarship at research universities has cordoned off access to this scholarly practice so that it may be difficult for some scholars to establish or maintain a foothold in the field. At these teaching intensive universities, bringing faculty and students together may be the best method for addressing [this] digital divide.”

- Jessica DeSpain and Kristine Hildebrandt

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Source: Jessica DeSpain and Kristine A. Hildebrandt, “Informatics Scholarship: Beyond The Research University,” Polymath: An Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Journal 3, no. 3 (2013): i, accessed March 22, 2018, https://ojcs.siue.edu/ojs/index.php/polymath/issue/view/70/.

Creating Communities at SIUE

• Student recruitment based on interest over technical experience
• Encourage participation through engagement with project, not grades
• Treat students as research colleagues

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Engaging K-12

• Buy-in from teachers and administrators
• Student interest and peer social engagement
• Specialized recruitment
• Clear communication between collaborators

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Partnering with a Local Humanities Center

• Humanitarianism vs. academic humanities
• Public programming for audiences of all ages
• Recognize different priorities of individual collaborators
• All participants receive the same training and resources through the project

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Collaborating with Cultural Institutions

• Clear communication of our intentions and process
• Ensure institution benefits from relationship
• Willingness to adjust digitization plans to meet their needs

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International Community Engagement

• Awareness of technology obstacles
• Importance of field work and community input
• Access to skills training and equipment
• Process of data collection vs. analysis, translation, and interpretation

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Looking Forward...

• Create infrastructure to encourage reciprocal partnerships between the university and Metro East communities
• Develop connections through the Digital Community Engagement Pathway
• Recruitment of underserved students to use digital humanities methodology to address local problems

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THANKS!

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Find us at iris.siue.edu

or on Facebook and Twitter @SIUEiris

eaststlouisculture.org

madison-historical.siue.edu

mananglanguages.isg.siue.edu

iris.siue.edu/nepal-earthquakes

widewideworlddigitaledition.siue.edu

Digital Humanities Clubs and CTBF Sites - Coming Soon!