MITH is very pleased and excited to welcome the launch of a new living/learning program, Digital Cultures and Creativity (DCC), to be housed within the University Honors College, sponsored by the College of Arts and Humanities and co-sponsorsed by the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences (the Computer Science Department) and the College of Information Studies.

Designed for the 21st century student who was born into the world of windows and the web, Digital Cultures and Creativity (DCC) provides an innovative living and learning community that combines art, imagination and global citizenship with new media and new technologies. Depending on individual interest, students will pursue activities including digital music and video production, digital art, creative electronic writing, virtual worlds and the development of software and online communities. Associate Professor of English and MITH Associate Director Matthew Kirschenbaum has been named first Director of the program: "There's a new generation of young people today--we sometimes call them ‘digital natives'--who have grown up creating and expressing themselves online," Kirschenbaum says. "Up till now they didn't have a home here on campus. Now they will."

Kirschenbaum is joined by Associate Director Tanya Clement, who recently earned her Ph.D. from Maryland and is herself a rising star in the international digital humanities community. "I'm looking forward to continuing the tradition of making the University of Maryland an innovator in digital humanities teaching and learning," says Clement. Neil Fraistat, Director of MITH, adds: "MITH is delighted to be partnering with the Department of Computer Science and the iSchool to bring this program into being. DCC will make palpable to first- and second-year honors students the intellectual excitement and energy characterizing the emergent field of digital humanities."

DCC will welcome its first cohort of students next fall. Watch http://dcc.umd.edu for further news and developments, or follow us on Twitter as @umd_dcc.