HumanitiesX 2020-21: Understanding, Speaking in, and Documenting this Historic Moment
In 2020, HumanitiesX chose to defer the launch of its fellowship program until the 2021-22 academic year. We instead sponsored two initiatives that prioritize the humanistic approaches, interdisciplinary inquiry, and engaged practice that are at the core of HumanitiesX. These initiatives were designed to offer our key stakeholders—DePaul students, faculty, and community partners—ways to connect, learn, and engage during a challenging year.
Initiative 1: Speaking in this Moment
Our first initiative focused on preparing faculty to voice and share with the public their scholarly perspectives about this historic moment. The initiative had two parts:
Guest Lectures
Conversations with invited guest speakers, focused on how humanities scholars can respond and contribute in moments of crisis.
See Events
Initiative 2. Documenting this Moment
In the winter and spring quarters of 2021, HumanitiesX offered a 4-credit internship course, described below, that DePaul students could take for Experiential Learning (EL) credit. Featured highlight stories and recorded interviews conducted by Documentary Corps students can be found on the DePaul Documentary Corps website. Students from the DDC project also helped create the
DePaul library guide (how-to guide) for oral history.
ISP 392: DePaul Documentary Corps Internship
This internship trains students to do ethically sensitive and professional oral history and documentary work, engaging them in documenting and preserving the present moment as a member of the new DePaul Documentary Corps. As a Corps member, students conduct, transcribe, and edit remote interviews with DePaul-connected stakeholders—including students, scholars, alumni, and community partners—on topics such as the pandemic and the fight for racial justice. The training portion of the internship involves weekly online guest lectures and workshops, led by DePaul faculty members and staff from museums, cultural institutions, and oral history initiatives. ISP 392 connects students with professionals in arts and culture organizations, enabling them to participate in the important work of preserving this moment for the historic record. No prior experience with audio recording or editing is required.