The second workshop in the Expanding Access to the Digital Humanities in St. Louis series was held September 16th and 17th, 2022. In partnership with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Lindenwood University hosted this workshop on its St. Charles campus.

Expanding Access to the Digital Humanities in St. Louis aims to develop a robust network of digital humanities practitioners in the St. Louis region, with a particular focus on using the digital humanities to support student learning. The purpose of this workshop was to set long-term objectives for the network and drive inter-institutional collaboration in pursuit of those objectives. Any secondary education or higher education humanities faculty member in the greater St. Louis region could apply to participate. Participants worked together to assess the current state of digital humanities education in the region and to develop plans for improving access and pedagogy. All faculty who participated both days received a $400 honorarium.

Over the course of the two-day workshop, twelve higher education humanities faculty and twelve secondary education humanities faculty performed a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis about digital humanities practices and education in the St. Louis region. Using this analysis as a starting place, they identified achievable objectives that would benefit from inter-institutional collaboration, and, in smaller working groups, developed actionable plans for pursuing those objectives beyond the conclusion of the workshop. Participants also worked together to develop a set of guidelines for student participation in digital humanities projects, with the goal of making it possible for a student at any area educational institution to remotely participate in digital humanities projects hosted at any other institution. Following the workshop, participants will be expected to work with their home institutions to encourage adoption of these guidelines. The project’s directors will assist them in this effort.