Strategic Plan, 2016-2021

Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities (CTSDH) is a broadly multidisciplinary research center that offers support for the development, peer review, hosting, and online publication of digital research projects of all kinds. The Center organizes and sponsors events (lectures, symposia, conference, internal training workshops, and exhibitions) and offers a professional Interdisciplinary MA in Digital Humanities – provisional mission statement, May 2016

The CTSDH exists as one of the few sites of truly multidisciplinary collaboration within CAS. The very nature of the Digital Humanities (DH) requires work that brings together partners with a range of talents and skills. At their best, university-based DH projects involve undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, and members of the larger community working together to use digital applications, methodologies, platforms, and sources to devise new ways of answering longstanding humanistic questions.

Over the course of the Spring 2016 semester, twenty members of the college and libraries faculty met in a series of strategic planning meetings to sketch out a vision for the CTSDH for the next five years. While we are still in the process of revising that plan (which we hope to soon share with the CAS Deans), there are four primary objectives upon which we agree:

1. Knowledge. We want to enhance humanistic knowledge through the tools and techniques of digital media and utilize humanistic modes of inquiry to better understand digital media. We will do this by:

• continuing to develop collaborative high-quality research projects that involve LUC faculty, students, and staff;

• developing educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff to learn about the Digital Humanities and Textual Studies;

• offering vibrant public programs and establishing new partnerships that expand knowledge across the university and within local, national, and international communities.

2. Service. We want to continue to solidify Loyola’s position as a leader in social justice by supporting Digital Humanities and Textual Studies approaches to faith, knowledge, and the promotion of justice. We will do this by:

• expanding, especially at the undergraduate level, student access to and success in Digital Humanities and Textual Studies education;

• advancing Loyola’s social justice mission through research projects, public programs, and faculty development;

• promoting multidisciplinary collaboration to address societal challenges;

• engaging these challenges through university, local, national, and international partnerships.

3. Visibility. We want to enhance visibility and understanding of the CTSDH on and beyond campus. We will do this by:

• taking a more active role in campus initiatives, building stronger partnerships with academic departments and schools, and reaching out to LUC students, faculty, and staff;

• developing a strategic communications and marketing plan for the CTSDH;

• developing a vision for CTSDH outreach, public engagement, and education that engages the university and local community’s diverse population;

• increasing professional activity for CTSDH faculty and students beyond campus.

4. Capacity. We want to ensure effective staffing and leadership, modern facilities and equipment, and adequate funding to support the Center’s work. We will do this by:

• developing an efficient structure for the administration of the Center;

• developing a staffing system that supports the research needs of the Center;

• working with partner departments to develop systems of support for the teaching needs of the Center;

• providing essential facilities and equipment for undertaking DH work;

• securing stable, diversified, and growing funding for the Center.