Carnegie Mellon Wins Grant for Technology-Enhanced Learning in the Humanities
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has
awarded a five-year, $2 million grant to Carnegie
Mellon University (CMU) to train graduate students and faculty to use
technology-enhanced learning (TEL) for education in the humanities.
The grant will primarily involve Ph.D. students and interested faculty in the
departments of English, history, modern languages and philosophy at the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social
Sciences. Intensive, weeklong summer courses will provide them with basic
training in using technology-enhanced learning. "Support personnel will assist
in developing and offering these courses and in consulting with faculty and
students who have a deeper interest," according to a news release from the
university. Following the summer sessions, the courses in TEL and digital
humanities will be made available to anyone through online modules.
The university will also offer fellowships to Ph.D. students pursuing a
thesis focused on digital humanities or technology-enhanced learning.
"Although we already have a number of faculty in humanities doing
groundbreaking work in digital humanities and in technology-enhanced learning,
this grant will allow us to change the culture for 'all' of our humanities Ph.D.
students and faculty," said Richard Scheines, dean of Dietrich College, in a
prepared statement.
According to Scheines, CMU is a leader in technology-enhanced learning and
most things digital, and this grant will help "keep the humanities vital." CMU
also has has a "well-established legacy of pioneering TEL and through its Simon Initiative, a strategic,
university-wide commitment to use TEL to improve learning outcomes for all
students," according to a news release from the university.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].