Jan 11, 2025 Digital Matters Spring 2025, Faculty and Graduate Fellow Announcement

Digital Matters is thrilled to announce the addition of new Faculty and Graduate Fellows to our team for the Spring of 2025. These individuals bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience that will undoubtedly contribute to the field of digital humanities and we look forward to the new ideas and perspectives they will bring to our work.

Faculty Grantees

Echoes of Women’s Musical Voices in Visual and Material Evidence from 1450-1550

Jane Hatter (Associate Professor, Musicology)

Echoes of Women’s Musical Voices is a digital humanities project that seeks to recover evidence of early modern female musicians by compiling, publicizing and synthesizing evidence of their musicality that exist in diverse forms of material culture—from their formal painted portraits as musicians to the wine-stained pages of the music manuscripts that they used on a regular basis. The long-term goal of this project is to make integrated databases of both visual and textual resources publicly available for consultation by other researchers and students interested in the topic, potentially opening if for crowdsourcing that would allow these databases to be expanded and improved. My data collection has been focused on Northern Italy, related to my current book project, but I looking to include material from other parts of Europe and collaborate with or integrate into other digital humanities projects that curate information on women’s live in the Renaissance.

Formations & Futures of Women Studies/Gender Studies: Uncovering Hidden Histories

Erin Graham (Associate Professor, Ethnic Studies & Gender Studies) and Wanda Pillow (Professor, Gender Studies)

This project highlights the history, contributions, and future of Gender Studies at the University of Utah. Since Fall 2023, undergraduate interns have scoured archives and conducted oral histories with key players. Through this research, we have learned that the formation of Women’s Studies only happened through the tenacious, strategic efforts of a core group of faculty, staff, and students determined to launch Women’s Studies at the U despite institutional and state barriers. For decades, the program operated with minimal funding and persevered only by commitment of faculty determined to find creative solutions to keep it going. Our work has traced the history of curriculum, funding, pedagogy, space, visibility, people, degrees, communities, and alumni across five decades and, among other important findings, demonstrates that Utah has one of the oldest Women’s Studies programs in the nation. With Digital Matters we will share these stories more broadly, virtually and in a culminating September 2025 event.

Graduate Fellows

Undocumented Stories Told through Virtual Reality: Virtual Gallery Praxis of Art, Research, and Narrative

Pablo Cruz-Ayala (MFA Student, Studio Art)

As a first-generation immigrant, I know firsthand the challenges and resilience of navigating life as undocumented. This project is deeply personal—it’s a conversation utilizing the in-between borders of Virtual Reality (VR) to experience and amplify the voices of undocumented immigrants who live within our Salt Lake Valley. The VR gallery I’m designing will feature immersive artworks inspired by real stories from the undocumented community, gathered oral narrations and histories, and reimagined visual folklore. Utilizing 3D scanning, VR programming, and multimedia platforms, I hope to invite anyone to walk through a digital space and connect the past with the present. I want this project to be as inclusive as possible, with Spanish translations and accessible design. Sharing a platform for artists, community members, and researchers alike to learn the utility and practicalities of art, research, and technology.

The White Supremacist Next Door: A Digital Ethnography of the Far-Right and Hyperlocal Political Strategy

Aly Hill (PhD Student, Communication)

Local far-right groups are key players in today’s conservative movement, yet they remain largely overlooked in political communication research—especially in the wake of January 6. As political violence escalates, democratic institutions face threats, and the far-right’s influence grows, understanding these networks is crucial. This study investigates 19 extremist groups in Utah, using digital ethnography to analyze their policy goals, influence, leadership structures, communication tactics, and patterns of harassment. By examining websites, social media activity, and other online interactions, it maps the overlap in their political narratives, legislative strategies, and messaging to understanding the local networks of far-right politics.