Five graduate students from the University of Notre Dame were accepted into the inaugural cohort of the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship Pedagogy Fellows for the 2021-2022 academic year.

The Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship (NFCDS), located within the Hesburgh Library, provides digital and emerging technologies expertise, technology-enriched spaces, and specialized hardware and software access for Notre Dame faculty and students in every academic discipline, at critical points throughout their research process and coursework. NFCDS fellows will join over 14 faculty and staff in the Center who offer workshops, consultations, embedded instruction, credit courses, and research collaboration campus-wide.

The new fellowship program is an opportunity for Notre Dame Ph.D. students from the College of Arts and Letters and College of Science to build their teaching expertise, gain instructional experience, and engage in a life-long community of practice. The program is designed for hands-on learning and the fellows are not required to have previous digital scholarship expertise or teaching experience.

“Computers have mediated our lives for decades, but COVID-19 both shines a light on and hastens that trend. In our rapidly changing digital landscape, it is imperative that scholars across all disciplines gain expertise teaching digital scholarship,” said Scott B. Weingart, director of the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship. “Through the instruction of campus and local community members, our remarkable cohort of graduate fellows will prepare others to face and succeed in a digital world.”

In addition to devising and delivering digital scholarship learning opportunities, fellows will gain experience in evidence-based and innovative instructional methods, collaborative teamwork, and communicating their research and scholarly interests outside of their discipline.

The fellowship program goals ensure that each fellow will be able to understand, apply, analyze, and reflect on evidence-based practices and principles related to the teaching and learning of computational, technological, methodological skills. In addition, they will engage in teaching observation activities and serve as a member of both the Fellowship Community of Practice and the NFCDS team.

“Digital fluency has been a focus area of the Center since its inception. I deeply appreciate the Navari family for supporting our advancements in teaching, learning and research,” added John Wang, associate university librarian for Hesburgh Libraries. “We plan to further our programming by expanding opportunities and avenues for broader participation of Notre Dame scholars and researchers.”

The 2021-2022 NFCDS Pedagogy Fellowships are sponsored by the Hesburgh Libraries NFCDS and the College of Science. Ben Chiewphasa, economics and data librarian, is the program lead. Arnaud Zimmern, postdoctoral fellow, is the program facilitator.

Meet the 2021-2022 NFCDS Pedagogy Fellows

Elizabeth Brooks

Brooks is a 4th-year graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Science. Her advisor is Michael Pfrender. Brooks hopes to gain experience in teaching digital scholarship methods and learn important principles of teaching and learning to help students achieve learning goals. “I will also be able to gain experience in developing and implementing curriculum for diverse audiences and communicating my research to those outside my field — skills that can help to improve my competitiveness in the job market,” said Brooks.

Kenya Lee

Lee is a 3rd-year graduate student in the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Letters. Her advisor is William Carbonaro. Lee is excited to learn new pedagogical techniques and ways to incorporate them into lesson plans and student learning assessments. “I’m interested in teaching students how to ask and answer complex questions about the social world. I see myself incorporating data analysis and visual story-telling in my courses,” said Lee. “Training in digital scholarship would also open doors to alternative academic careers of interest in government and research non-profits.”

Jacob Swisher

Swisher is a 2nd-year graduate student in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Letters. His advisor is Jon Coleman. Through this program, Swisher hopes to become a more effective instructor for students interested in learning about the digital humanities. “This would be an excellent opportunity for me to experiment with a different mode of content delivery and would allow me to add to my skill set as an instructor,” said Swisher. “One of my primary goals is to diversify my instructional style and develop a classroom environment that engages an array of majors.”

Craig Waitt

Waitt is a 5th-year graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Science. His advisor is William Schneider. In the classroom, Waitt strives to foster a healthy and inclusive learning environment that builds community among students. “I would like to have a set of tools I can incorporate into my class and introduce to students which will further their competitiveness in the job market,” said Waitt. “My initial objective is to make this workshop series for physical science majors, however, I hope to learn how to generalize particular topics in order to make it more applicable to a broader audience.”

Yuyi (Wynona) Wan

Wan is a 2nd-year graduate student in the Department of Physics in the College of Science. Her advisors are Randal Ruchti and Kevin Lannon. Through her students, Wan hopes to learn how to better communicate her specialized knowledge to non-physicists, and improve her lecturing skills. “Developing and presenting workshops require detailed preparation and good lecturing skills that will be useful in any kind of work environment,” said Wan. “Being able to properly plan and teach will improve my time management, self-confidence, and communication skills that are needed in all careers.”

For those interested in the 2022-2023 fellowship program, details will be posted during the spring semester. To learn more about the fellowship program, please visit cds.library.nd.edu or contact the Fellowship team at nfcds-pedagogy-fellowship-list@nd.edu.

 

About the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship
Endowed with a $10 million gift from the Marilyn & Rudolph M. Navari Charitable Foundation, the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship provides digital and emerging technologies expertise and technology-enriched spaces for Notre Dame faculty and students in every academic discipline, at critical points throughout their research process and course work. With partnerships campus-wide, the NFCDS is home to over 14 faculty and staff who offer workshops, consultations, embedded instruction, credit courses, and research collaboration in areas including: research data management, data use and analysis, data visualization, digital humanities, geographic information systems, text mining and analysis, virtual reality, and 3D modeling. This interdisciplinary team rapidly adopts new technologies as they emerge and helps transform how teaching, research, and scholarship are performed at Notre Dame.

About the University of Notre Dame Hesburgh Libraries
The Hesburgh Libraries is a diverse system featuring the flagship Hesburgh Library—which houses the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, the Medieval Institute Library, the University Archives and Rare Books & Special Collections—and four specialty libraries located on the Notre Dame campus. Home to over 150 library faculty and staff, the Libraries hold more than 3.5 million monographs and subscribe to more than 35,000 serials. The vast array of library expertise, services, resources and spaces support the library’s mission of connecting people to knowledge and help to advance teaching, learning, and research at Notre Dame.