Welcome back to the Spring semester! The GC Digital Fellows have been hard at work developing more events, workshops, and resources to support digital scholarship at the Graduate Center. Read on to find out more about what we’ve been up to and what we have in store for you this semester.
January’s Successful GC Digital Research Institute
Just last week, the GCDI ran its fourteenth Digital Research Institute. We had a lovely time teaching and learning skills like HTML/CSS, Python, Command Line, and QGIS alongside more than 30 participants. If you’re feeling FOMO and don’t want to wait until next winter to join us in the DRI, you can follow the curriculum and do some independent learning through the DHRIFT online learning platform. And as always, set a reminder for this November to remember to apply for next year’s DRI!
Spring Workshops
Every semester, the Digital Fellows offer hands-on in-person and remote online workshops on digital research tools for people of all skill levels. Workshops are free and open to any member of the Graduate Center community. (Ready yourself by learning how to get the most out of our workshops here.) Registration is required, you can do so by selecting the workshop on the workshop calendar and completing the workshop RSVP to get on our attendee list. Here’s a list of our upcoming workshops for Spring 2026:
Basic Audio Editing with Audacity
Tuesday, 2/10/26 12-1:30 pm
This hands-on workshop will be a foundational exploration of Audacity as an audio editing software. We will discuss some of its functionalities that can help you edit and clean your audio files to prepare them for publishing and sharing. Prior knowledge and experience are not necessary for the workshop. We will work with a demo audio, but having a pre-recorded sound clip/file (~1 min) that you can practice on is encouraged.
AI Tools for Research: Understanding AI Systems in Research Contexts
Wednesday, 2/18/26 12-2 pm
This workshop introduces the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) with a focus on how these systems operate when used in research settings. Rather than emphasizing tools or tricks, the session centers on building conceptual literacy: what LLMs are, how they generate outputs, and what happens when researchers interact with them through prompts and iterative feedback. Participants will explore common research use cases, such as literature exploration, drafting, and analytic support, alongside key limitations, risks, and ethical considerations. By developing a clearer mental model of AI systems, attendees will be better equipped to use these tools intentionally, critically, and responsibly in their research workflows.
Text Analysis for Right to Left Languages
Thursday, 2/19/26 12:30-2:00 pm
Doing DH in languages other than English, especially right to left languages, once required building tools from the ground up. Today, we find that there are several text analysis tools that can be used when working with right to left languages. In this workshop we will explore one text analysis tool and one AI tool that may assist in multilingual text analysis.
Slides with LaTeX
Thursday, 2/26/26 1:00-2:30 pm
“A presentation is not a set of slides: it is all about someone having something to say to an audience-slides or no slides.” With this aphorism of Doumont in mind, we will learn how to use the Beamer package in the typesetting software LaTeX to create effective slides for short talks. Beamer is a powerful tool that inherently forces you to carefully consider how to use judiciously use slide space, enabling the creation of useful slides that complement your talk. This workshop is designed for those with a basic understanding of LaTeX, including those who attended Fall 2025’s Introduction to LaTeX. We will go through some examples of efficient slides, walk through how to use Beamer, and finish by creating our own mini-slide deck as a workshop activity.
Making Beautiful Maps with QGIS and Tableau
Monday, 3/9/2612-1:30 pm
Do you know the basics of QGIS but lose all hope when you try to stylize your map? QGIS is notorious for its frustrating, counterintuitive, and finicky design options. Have no fear! This workshop will teach you how to export your spatial data from QGIS and use Tableau, a data visualization platform, to make a visually compelling, interactive map in just a few simple steps.
Queer DH: Key Projects and Concepts
Tuesday, 3/17/26 12-1:30 pm
What does it mean to do queer digital humanities? This workshop will explore key themes of identity, narrative, and space in queer DH, and introduce participants to projects exemplifying the possibilities and limitations of queer(ing) digital humanities. We will engage in a critical exploration of queer archives, mapping, gaming, and more!
Introduction to Omeka
Tuesday, 3/24/26 12-1:30 pm
This workshop introduces beginners to Omeka Classic, which is a free version of the content management system for sharing collections of objects or other sources online. It is built using free, open source software used to encourage websites for sharing digital collections and creating online exhibits. This is ideal for scholarly projects, community based projects, classroom assignments, and public history. This workshop gives a brief overview of the platform, its features, and how to use it.
LLM-Assisted Coding
Thursday, 3/19/26 12-1:30 pm
This workshop introduces graduate students to using Large Language Models (LLMs) to accelerate research coding and everyday technical work. The session focuses on hands-on workflows for writing and refactoring code, debugging errors, cleaning and transforming data, and generating analysis templates. It also highlights responsible use, including verification habits, privacy awareness, and academic integrity. Participants will leave with reusable prompt templates and a clear framework for integrating LLM assistance into reproducible research.
One-on-one Consultations
Have a question about your digital project? Thinking of including digital tools in your scholarship or teaching? GCDI staff are available to meet in-person at the GC and/or remotely with GC students, faculty, and staff to talk through technical challenges, digital skills, or simply brainstorm. Sign up for a 30-minute consultation through this form.
Looking for a community to learn with?
We have several working groups that focus on specific interests. Working groups are composed of students, faculty, and staff who are looking for other scholars with similar interests to share resources, advice, and opportunities. These interdisciplinary groups connect through the CUNY Academic Commons.
These groups include the Python User’s Group (PUG), the GIS/Mapping Working Group, the R User’s Group (RUG), the Digital Archives Research Collective (DARC), Humanidades Digitales (DH in Spanish), and the Digital Dissertations Group. No experience is needed to join; only an interest in the central topic and community. Do also check out our blog post on how to get the most out of our working groups.
Resources and Funding Opportunities
Provost’s Digital Innovation Grant
DEADLINE: Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Provost’s Digital Innovation Grants (PDIGs), a recurring GC Digital Initiatives program, provide financial support of up to $2,000 to doctoral students at the CUNY Graduate Center as they design and develop digital projects that contribute to the GC’s research, teaching, and service missions. Since 2012, PDIGs have supported a wide range of inventive projects across the disciplines, such as an online, open-access, crowdsourced database of mentor relationships within the field of writing studies; an app to support street medics and promote health and safety among activist communities; a computational analysis of Cold War diplomatic history; and many others.
Projects at any stage of development are eligible for PDIG awards. Proposals may also include the initial development of a digital project or the ongoing development, growth, and deployment of established individual or team digital projects. Such projects may require additional resources to make a tool presentable to an academic audience or to improve the design of an early prototype based on feedback and evaluation. Proposals should describe how they address a challenge or problem in the applicant’s scholarly field.
Successful applicants will be asked to share a description on the Provost’s Digital Innovation Grant website and to write a white paper upon completion of the grant that will also be published on our website. Additionally, grantees will be expected to present publicly on their work in progress during the academic year, including presenting at the 2026 Digital GC Showcase on Thursday, May 14th at 6:30 PM and participating in occasional collaborative meetings and discussions with current and past grantees. Projects that use open-source tools and that focus on making work publicly accessible are strongly encouraged.
Manifold Digital Publishing Platform
As CUNY students, you have free access to Manifold, an open source, digital publishing platform. Manifold is an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funded collaboration between the GC, University of Minnesota Press, and Cast Iron Coding. Manifold projects are multimedia friendly and texts created in Manifold may be annotated using Manifold’s built-in social annotation tool.On CUNY’s instance of Manifold you can publish:
- Your own scholarship – searching for mami & abuelita (dissertation), Queer and Trans Prison Voices (capstone)
- Journals – Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy – JITP
- Course Sites and Open Educational Resources (OER) such as:
- Archival projects – Let My People Know, Adrienne Rich:Teaching at CUNY
- Class projects & course sites – Black Diasporic Visions: (De) Constructing Modes of Power, Modern Art and OER Writing Seminar, Theatre History II
- Teaching editions of public domain texts – The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
- Teaching and pedagogy resources – Teach@CUNY Handbook
- Creative work such as poetry or personal essays When We Had Cancer, Happy Nostalgia
To learn more about using Manifold, check out our Getting Started with Manifold Quick Guides! Join the Manifold Users group on the CUNY Academic Commons to be notified about Manifold workshops and updates.
If you have questions about using Manifold please contact Robin Miller or Manifold Graduate Fellows Cortnie Belser, Herline Honorat, Cen Liu, and August Smith.
CUNY Academic Commons
As a CUNY student, you are eligible to register for an account on the CUNY Academic Commons. The Commons is a CUNY-created and run platform for building websites, collaborating with groups, and connecting with peers across the university. Faculty, staff, and students at CUNY use the Commons to teach and take courses, create academic portfolios, host websites for their research projects or academic departments, and more! To learn more, check out the Commons’ About page, read the latest Commons News releases, browse featured groups and sites, and visit the Commons’ HELP pages for support with getting started.
GCDI Online Resources
If you find yourself unable to attend a particular workshop, there are a number of asynchronous GCDI resources you can use! Our resources include tutorials, handouts, and reflections that cover topics such as tools, methods as data and databases, research design, mapping, programming (including python and R), project management, sound recording, sharing, and analysis, text analysis, and web development.
- Please visit the Digital Resource Guide for materials by current and former Digital Fellows.
- Check out the Digital Fellows’ Tagging the Tower blog for posts like:
- Racialized Aspects of Data Collection & Data Use by Peyton Cordero
- What is metadata, and why does it matter? by Maggie Schreiner
- How AI Is Changing What It Means to Learn by Eunah Cho
- AI is everywhere; is it in qualitative research, too? Potentials, Pitfalls, and Open-Source Solutions (Part 1) by Parisa Setayesh
- Digital Tools to Experiment with this Winter by Meha Gupta
- Introduction to Python’s NetworkX By Pranav Chinmay
- What about Public Presence? by Christopher Colon
- A Conceptual Guide to Digital Academic Identity by Stefano Morello
- Additional resources include the Digital Archive Research Collective, the Digital Dissertations Resource Guide, the entire curriculum of the GC Digital Research Institute AND the Digital Humanities Research Institute.
Stay in touch!
Want to keep up to date on all the GCDI happenings? Be sure to join our GCDI Group on the Commons, subscribe to our calendar, follow us on LinkedIn, check out our Linktr.ee, and be on the lookout for regular updates about our programs shared through your program’s listserv. It’s always good to know what’s going on with the GCDI, because you, yes you, are the #digitalGC.
The best way to stay connected is to check the GCDI website regularly. There, you will find all of our workshops, events, and grant opportunities on our calendar, as well as a slew of online resources to support your work this semester.
Please don’t hesitate to contact the Digital Fellows [email protected] with questions!
With best wishes for a productive and smooth semester,
your Digital Fellows,
Anna, Tuka, Maggie, Parisa, Chinmay, Meha, Chris, and Eunah
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