By Jessica Martinez
There’s a new interdisciplinary student association forming on campus... Berkeley’s first undergraduate-led group for Digital Humanities: BUDHA
What is BUDHA?
The Berkeley Undergraduate Digital Humanities Association (BUDHA) is a growing group of undergraduates who
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Have taken Digital Humanities classes or are curious about the field
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Are using or want to use software like SketchUp, Photogrammetry, OCR scanning, Geospatial mapping, or Python coding to enhance their majors
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Are gaining knowledge in network analysis, text analysis, and digital scanning to examine and share their research
What will BUDHA do?
In its first year, BUDHA will
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Connect undergraduates with faculty and grad students who are leading scholars in DH at Berkeley
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Create leadership and mentorship positions within the group to spread the word about DH’s offerings to other undergrads and share resources amongst one another
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Make long-term decisions about how undergrads will interact with the Digital Humanities at Berkeley, such as making DH available to undergrads as a minor
What are the benefits of Digital Humanities?
Digital Humanities is the use of computer or digital tools to conduct academic research or publishing. For example
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If you are in the Social Sciences, software programs like Tableau and ArcGIS mapping allow you to make digital maps and graphs of demographics, statistics and trends that you can then analyze and share with others.
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Majors such as the Classics, English and Religious Studies can also benefit from tools like OCR scanning for digitizing old texts and Python for textual analysis of novels and writings.
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Archaeology, Anthropology, History and Art History students can use Photogrammetry to make 3D models of paintings, artifacts, and other objects.
Digital Humanities offers undergraduates the tools to make their studies relevant and communicable in today’s ever-increasing digital world. All of the skills learned in a Digital Humanities course can be transferred and utilized for any major as well as in the job market where such skills will make you a more competitive candidate.
Who can join?
If you are an undergraduate interested in Digital Humanities, connecting with DH faculty, and sharing resources with other undergraduates, check out BUDHA set to become a critical player in Digital Humanities at Berkeley
To join, contact Art History undergraduates and DH specialists, Gabriella Marie Wellons, gwellons@berkeley.edu, and Davienne Shields, davienne@berkeley.edu.