Mellon Foundation Awards Grant to Support Regional THATCamps

CHNM is pleased to announce a major award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the growing regional THATCamp network. The $264,000 award will provide new supports for training in digital methods and make it easier for regional THATCamps to be established and run. A regional coordinator will help prospective THATCamp organizers set up and run each conference; a compilation of open source software (“THATCamp-in-a-box”) will help support the proceedings from registration to session management; and a new curriculum for scholars inexperienced in digital methods (“BootCamp”) will be created and disseminated. In addition, a micro-fellowship program will assist aspiring digital humanists to attend a regional THATCamp.

THATCamp—The Humanities and Technology Camp—is a yearly user-generated unconference established by CHNM in 2008. During the past nine months, a network of locally conceived and organized regional THATCamps has taken root around the world. Recent regional THATCamps include events in Austin, TX, Pullman, WA, Columbus OH, Los Angeles, CA, and East Lansing, MI. Additional events are currently being planned for Paris, Toronto, London, Seattle, and other cities. CHNM’s home THATCamp is scheduled for May 22–23, 2010 in Fairfax, VA.