The Centre for Digital Humanities (CDH) is a newly created entity within the NWU Faculty of Humanities. According to the dean of the faculty, Prof Dumi Moyo, “this Centre will play a pivotal role in advancing research and innovation at the intersection of our various humanities disciplines and digital technologies.” Prof Moyo announced Prof Janelize Morelli‘s appointment as the centre’s first director on 30 May and added, “[U]nder Prof Morelli’s direction, I expect the Centre to become a hub for driving cutting-edge research, creative projects, innovative teaching and learning practices, and community engagement.”
Prof Morelli describes her responsibilities in this new position as follows: “As director of the CDH it is my responsibility to lay the strategic foundation for the centre and ensure that the scholars and community supported by the centre are able to access resources and acquire the skills they need to flourish in a rapidly digitising world. This is an exciting opportunity for the Faculty of Humanities to reshape and grow our humanities, social sciences and artistic research for the betterment of people and to support the creative industries; thereby adding to the economic growth of South Africa. In future we envisage the CDH being a creative hub for artists and humanities scholars to collaborate on exciting digital ventures, supporting social and economic development through policy consultation and writing, and publishing socially impactful research demonstrating how the humanities are central to understanding our rapidly changing world.”
Although one might argue that this shift is a departure from her work in community music, Prof Morelli offers a contrary opinion: “In community music I have been drawn to explore the periphery of what can be seen as musical and to build community along the way. One such example was the hackathon organised by the second year BA community music class for Make Music Day 2024 [see pictures below]. This event brought together students from music, engineering and educational sciences to think differently around the problem of access to music education using technology. At the CDH we will support many such events, including monthly workshops, hackathons and showcases. We will also be exploring the outskirts of the humanities disciplines and finding interesting ways in which the humanities connect with science, geography, engineering and many more to understand how humans adapt to a world in which our realities are being shaped by algorithms and networks.”
Although we are sad to lose Prof Morelli as a lecturer in the School of Music, we are also proud that “one of our own” has been appointed to this important position. All the best with the new challenges, Prof Janelize!
