Human Connections Through Digital Space
Digital tools help build human connections and learning through UT’s collaborative Digital Project Cultivator.
The Digital Project Cultivator (DPC) is a collaboration between UT Libraries and the interdisciplinary Digital Humanities program within the College of Arts and Sciences. It offers participating faculty access to the Hodges Library’s Virtual Reality (VR) Lab to enable and advance development in research and teaching projects, including pursuing external grants, through collaborations with library colleagues with relevant expertise.
The DPC program is coordinated by Digital Humanities Director Hilary Havens, associate professor in the Department of English, in partnership with Holly Mercer and Joshua Ortiz-Baco of UT Libraries.
“Collaborative and interdisciplinary work is essential to my work at UT,” said Havens. “The DPC is able to help other faculty members build similar networks.”
The two inaugural faculty members receiving support through the cultivator program are Assistant Professor Heather Coker Hawkins from the School of Art and Assistant Professor Sharon Grigsby Hill from the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services.
“These are innovative projects,” said Havens, “They leverage the capabilities of Hodges Library’s Virtual Reality Lab, which is an excellent resource open to members of the UT community.”
Exploring Disconnection
Hawkins is composing a multi-platform new media project integrating dance film, video installation, and VR experiences with critical theory to explore how time-based art formats—film, video, sound recording—can contribute to audience well-being and counter the disconnection between individuals and their bodies in a technology-driven society.
“As a filmmaker and choreographer, my work prioritizes the physical and emotional responses of the audience,” said Hawkins. “I see this project as a foundational work, to allow for future collaborations that continue to push the boundaries of embodiment in the fields of art, health, humanities, and computer science.”
She will work in the library’s lab this summer and fall to test her VR experience prototype.
“With the help of the amazing DPC team and students, I aim to advance every facet of the project while also seeking external perspectives on how it might inform research in other fields,” said Hawkins. “I am honored that this project was selected for the program—it is also the proposed project for my upcoming time as a Digital Humanities Fellow at the Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts in spring 2026.”
Teaching Interpreters
Hill plans to leverage VR simulation for American Sign Language (ASL)/English interpreter education and training while researching its impact on the effectiveness of student development and improving the equivalency of the interpreted message.
“As it currently stands, training for ASL/English interpreters is limited to the use of pre-recorded videos, pre-recorded audio, or immersion at a live, on-the-spot event,” said Hill.
The interpreters often work in front of an audience, inspiring potential performance anxiety along with the physical exertion their work requires. In Hill’s project, trainees will be immersed into a setting with a virtual audience to develop a system that benefits students enrolled in UT’s ASL Translation and Interpreting program.
“VR simulation can provide an enhanced learning environment to allow students to both experience and physically prepare for these stressors,” said Hill. “To date, this type of simulation has not yet been extensively implemented in the discipline, nor has any research been published on this technology’s use in interpreter training.”
Digital Project Cultivator Advantages
The collaborative nature of the DPC is one way that Digital Humanities fulfills its mission to support cutting-edge, interdisciplinary programs within the college’s Consortium on Social and Cultural Inquiry (CoSCI), offering exciting new learning opportunities for current and future Vols.
Participant benefits include:
- Access to The Studio in Hodges Library, including multimedia workstations, production software, and other specialized tools.
- Guidance on project management, including organizational structure, workflows, publishing, and sunsetting your project.
- Coordinated access to and collaboration with Library colleagues in relevant fields, subject to their availability and interest.
- Internship opportunities with students connected to the Digital Humanities graduate certificate program and undergraduate minor; and—when possible—training in relevant software and digital tools.
“The DPC is one of several ways that UT faculty members can gain expertise and support in digital tools and methodologies,” said Havens. “The Digital Humanities program invites visiting speakers each year through the Denbo Center and CoSCI, and the Denbo Center offers five fellowships each year to the Digital Humanities Summer Institute in Canada.”
The DPC is part of the continued expansion of the interdisciplinary Digital Humanities program, including a minor, established by Havens and Amy Elias, Chancellor’s Professor and Denbo Center director, with help from Ortiz-Baco at UT Libraries. Faculty who want to participate are encouraged to contact Havens.
By Randall Brown