History: Digital History

Digital History brings academic scholarship to a wider audience through new technologies—develop the skills inherent in visual language and communication through the use of digital tools, interactive design, information architecture, and navigation with an eye to a new generation of information consumers.

In collaboration with the Art Department, this concentration allows you to use digital media to further historical analysis, presentation, and research. The relatively new field of Digital History allows students to follow and present an historical argument using media technologies and tools such as digitization, podcasts, blogs, database searches, text analysis, data visualization, mapping, digital scholarship and publishing, and digital pedagogy. Emmanuel's Digital History Concentration provides you the skills necessary for developing research and teaching projects while also teaching the skills necessary to apply historical methods to critically evaluate sources and arguments.

Major Requirements

View the 2022-2023 Academic Catalog to find course titles, numbers and descriptions.

Requirements for B.A. in History with a concentration in Digital History


Choose three 1000-level history courses

  • HIST1105 United States History to 1877 (H) (HI)
  • HIST1106 United States History Since 1877 (H) (HI)
  • HIST1107 African History: Themes (H) (HI)
  • HIST1108 World History to 1500 (H) (HI) (DM)
  • HIST1109 Modern World History (H) (HI)
  • HIST1111 An Introduction to East Asian History (HI) (DM)
  • HIST1114 Creating the Atlantic World (HI)

Required Courses

  • ART1407 Visual Language for Design and Communication (AI-A) (VCI)
  • IDDS1000 Digital Citizenship (SI) (SS) OR IDDS1101 Introduction to Programming (QA) (QR)
  • HIST2101 Introduction to Digital History (H) (HI)
  • HIST2701 Historical Methods and Research
  • HIST4000 Senior Seminar
  • Three additional HIST courses, two of which must be at the 3000-level
  • ART3402 Interactive Design OR ART3431 Motion Graphics and Digital Animation
  • HIST4194 History Internship

Highly Recommended Course

  • ART3531 Stories in Motion

The Digital History Concentration provides students with a depth of knowledge in the discipline of History, encouraging students to represent it in a dynamic and engaging manner.  The Digital History Concentration also would offer transferrable skills to students across the College. Students from any discipline could apply the skills they learn with this Concentration:

  • Digital History Literacy: to apply traditional historical skills - reading, writing, analysis, and evaluation - using digital tools
  • Analysis: to compose an original argument based on primary and secondary sources through the use of digital history platforms, databases, methods, and techniques
  • Visualization: to clearly and accurately communicate ideas, research, and pedagogy via digital history tools and techniques to the larger public

Explore Emmanuel

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For Nadel, the stage is her “second home,” and the community she’s found within Emmanuel’s Theater program, a second family. While she originally thought she would pursue college theater as a hobby, she soon realized the work would define her student experience and provide a foundation for life beyond Emmanuel.

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Gianna Kittle '20: Advocating for Justice

Prior to coming to Emmanuel, Gianna had never heard of the field of sociology, but was very familiar and passionate about issues of crime and justice. Her time at Emmanuel helped her to not only put a name—but also, a purpose—to that passion.

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Jake Hill '20: Seeing Citizenship with a Capitol C

Growing up in a suburban town outside of Boston, going to college in the city had always been a goal for Jake. After touring Emmanuel's campus he felt it had the perfect mixture of “small campus feel and big city appeal.”

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Melissa Duffy '20: Artist and Appreciator

When Melissa started at Emmanuel, she chose what she believed to be two separate and distinct majors—studio art and history—to fulfill her both her personal and professional interests.

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Featured Faculty: Petros Vamvakas

Petros Vamvakas is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Latin American Studies, Middle East Studies and Peace Studies Programs. His work focuses on security and democratization, as well as issues related to identity and race in politics throughout the Americas. As part of his teaching, he has escorted groups of students to Crete, Greece, and will be bringing a group of students to Cuba.

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