Nineteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Diversity has many dimensions. Race, gender, culture, ethnicity, economical status, sexual orientation, and accessibility are just a few of the extents when constructing identities. Trends in scholarship draw attention to the interconnectedness of identities, and the reality that individuals “have layered identities and can simultaneously experience oppression and privilege” (Dill, McLaughlin, & Nieves, 2007). At the same time student engagement in educationally effective practices is of upmost importance to student success. One of the successful practices lies in the intersection of humanities disciplines and digital technology and is known as Digital Humanities. The World “The way we saw it” instructionally related program runs each academic year and serves all courses across the curriculum of the World Languages & Cultures Departments of Humboldt State University and ArcataHighSchool. Includes: A digital gallery of original photographs by languages students. Students have the opportunity to view and be inspired by the photographs while using them in course assignments across the languages curriculum to produce writings in their target language of study. Then the photos, along with selected student writings in different languages, are published in e-books curated at the HSU Digital Commons. The students created an original digital content as part of their humanities assignments. The program boosted student engagement and facilitated intercultural communication. The World “The way we saw it” program not only serves as an innovative instructionally related program but it also fosters connection between university and high school, boosts community engagement and creates sense of belonging for our students.