UCF Center for Humanities and Digital Research, 2025-26 Year-in-Review

The 2025–26 academic year was a year of transition, growth, and expanded engagement for the Center for Humanities and Digital Research (CHDR), which continued to support digital humanities scholarship, collaborative research, and public-facing projects across UCF and beyond.

Throughout the year, the center advanced a range of digital humanities initiatives while strengthening partnerships among faculty, students, libraries, community organizations, and cultural institutions. Several groups, including the New Smyrna Newspaper Project and Flying Horse Editions, conducted ongoing digitization and scanning projects through the center. CHDR also supported the development of new podcasts and contributed to cultural programming on and off campus, extending the reach of humanities research to broader audiences.

CHDR remained an active hub for scholarly exchange, hosting presentations by researchers and faculty including Akela Reason, Luis Fred, Arnab Dutta Roy, Bruce Janz, Amy Giroux, Mike Shier, Emily Johnson, Mel Stanfill, and Anastasia Salter. These events fostered interdisciplinary conversations and highlighted a range of research and creative activity.

The center also expanded opportunities for student engagement and professional development. Mike Shier mentored Texts & Technology PhD students serving as CHDR Graduate Research Associates and supported their collaboration with the UCF Libraries’ Digital Exploration Center. He also led several publications through editorial and production processes, including a new chapbook for The Florida Review, redesigned and rebuilt the CHDR website to serve as a more visible showcase of research projects and faculty expertise, and redesigned and taught Playable Texts & Technology, a course in the Texts & Technology program.

The year also brought significant personnel changes. After a decade of service, Associate Director Amy Giroux retired from CHDR and UCF. During her tenure, she led numerous grant-funded projects, including the Veterans Legacy Program, supported by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and research on the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes and the legacy of their warriors in St. Augustine, funded by the National Park Service. Her invaluable leadership and contributions helped shape the center’s growth and research impact over the past decade.

CHDR welcomed Brook Miller as its new Associate Director. Prior to his appointment, he served as Applications Programmer for CHDR projects including PRINT: People, Religion, Information Networks, and Travel; Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary Online; and Endless Learner (ELLE). He also helped develop and secure new funding for VLP, Webster’s Dictionary Online, PermitPal, and other initiatives. He now serves as project co-lead on several ongoing projects and will help guide the center’s next phase of growth. The center also welcomed Susan Xaio as Applications Programmer, expanding its technical capacity to support research and digital project development. She is a recent graduate of the University of Alabama with a double major in Computer Science and Studio Art.

Together, these activities reflect CHDR’s continuing role as a catalyst for interdisciplinary collaboration, public engagement, and innovative humanities research at UCF.