When I first registered for Messiah’s first ever digital history class, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I originally signed up not knowing anything about this emerging field. All that I knew was that my adviser and the chair of the history department had both told me that I should take this class. With recommendations like that, how could I say no? When the class first started, I realized what a great potential it held, not only for us students to gain a great deal of knowledge in a new field, but also for the Department of History to advance the field of digital history within Messiah. In the course of this semester, both of these have proved to come true. We have all gained knowledge about digital history, and even greater than that, first hand experience in historical research. Not only has the History Department advanced the study of digital history, but the School of Humanities is currently launching a new Digital Humanities initiative. Thanks to the hard work of many people, the digital humanities are blossoming at Messiah.
Throughout the semester, my interest in digital history has continuously grown along with my knowledge of this field. Unlike my classmates, I am not saying goodbye to this project, as I will be continuing with the City Social aspect of Digital Harrisburg, and I am very excited to continuing to see this project develop. Additionally, I will be serving as a member of a student committee seeking to advance the digital humanities at Messiah. In a recent conversation with one of the professors in the History Department, I was told that I have “lost my soul to digital history.” This is very true and I am very thankful that I have found something that interests me so much that I want to continue studying it.
Digital Harrisburg 