Off the Tracks

Tanya Clement and Doug Reside led a workshop on professionalization in digital humanities centers called, “Off the Tracks—Laying New Lines for Digital Humanities Scholars.” The workshop addressed the rapidly emerging phenomenon of alternative academic careers among the hybrid scholar-programmers now staffing many DH centers. Such staff members are not well accounted for by the normative division between the “research” usually associated with faculty positions and the “service” usually associated with staff. As a result, career trajectories and methods for their professional development are unclear. This Digital Humanities Level 1 Start Up grant supported a MITH-hosted two-day workshop during January 2011. The online discussion resulted in a white paper and a set of recommendations for establishing career paths within digital humanities centers.