Category: Bio

Hi! My name is Nina Wakabayashi (she/they). I was born in Maryland and grew up in Tokyo and Bangkok. I’m currently a sophomore at Carleton College, majoring in Anthropology and Political Science with a minor in Philosophy. Outside the classroom, I love dancing, reading, and traveling.

This is my first term working as a Digital Humanities Associate (DHA). My interest in digital humanities began during my freshman winter, when I took Hacking the Humanities with Professor Austin Mason. I was fascinated by the field’s interdisciplinary nature and its commitment to public scholarship, making academic research more accessible and engaging. That curiosity deepened while working as a research partner with Professor Asuka Sango, where I helped analyze World War II–era Japanese military maps (gaihōzu) housed in Carleton’s Gould Library. I transcribed and interpreted the maps’ multiple layers of information, creating a searchable digital index.

As a DHA, I’m excited to explore how digital tools can connect scholarly work with broader publics. I hope to make research more accessible and inclusive while deepening my understanding of what public scholarship can look like in the digital age.

Hello everyone! My name is Zhuokai Yuan, and I am a sophomore from China, planning to major in Physics and Computer Science. Beyond my academics, I’m passionate about playing and watching soccer. I’ve always been drawn to the space where technology and humanistic inquiry meet, which is why I was so excited about the opportunity to become a Digital Humanities Assistant (DHA).

I am particularly excited to see how technological tools can help us envision new ways of investigating and presenting discoveries in the humanities. I look forward to learning which technologies are most applicable to humanities research and developing the skills to use them effectively. The training before the beginning of the semester provided tons of valuable insights. As the authors of Data Feminism suggest, the way data is analyzed, presented, and visualized reflects the creators’ own understanding and perspectives. I hope to actively participate in shaping these new visions and am eager to collaborate with other DHAs on our projects.

I’m looking forward to a great semester of learning and contribution to DHA works!

Hello! My name is Aiden Johnson, and I am a Junior Computer Science Major from Rochester, Minnesota. I am involved on campus in many ways. I am the Creative Director and Treasurer of Carleton’s Cowprint Magazine, Outreach Coordinator for Carls with Artistic Taste (CAT), and a member of Carleton’s Swim and Dive Team! (I specialize in the 200 Butterfly).

As someone who is equally interested in Digital Art as I am in Computer Science, being a Digital Humanities Associate was an obvious choice. One thing that was brought to my attention from Miriam Posner’s How Did They Make That? The Video! was how Digital Humanities can transform user understanding of concepts in ways that are much more accessible than traditional print media allows. One such example being the Green Book Digital Humanities project, which included a digital map that made processing the locations in the Green Book much easier to understand. Strengthening my skills in data presentation through Digital Humanities in mediums such as ArcGIS is a big goal for me this year. I hope to assist in making information more accessible as a Digital Humanities Associate this coming school year!

Hi, My name is Emma Zhang (she/her), and I’m from China. I’m a sophomore interested in Cognitive Science and Computer Science. Aside from that, I’m a theater person and been doing relevant work on campus. This is my first term working as a DHA. I really like the interdisciplinary nature of digital humanities and how DH projects tell valuable stories, so I would love to be part of these projects.

For me, I value the experience of working with a team of supporting DH professionals, as I get to develop skills both in and out of the field. I also look forward to investigate into ways we present a story to our audience. My main takeaways from the training are the mindsets DH people have. Just like suggested in Data Feminism, data are more than itself — it can be used to convey stories and meanings. I wish to continue learning and applying the creative mindsets to actual project. Also, I would love to be part of a project visible online, and value invisible efforts put into those websites.

I’m very excited to begin my new role as DHA and look forward to contributing to the team. I am ready to learn from everyone and allow my creativity grow.

Hi all, I am Tori (she/her), a senior majoring in Computer Science and Statistics. I have always had a mixture of humanistic inquiries and statistical reasoning on my academic profile, so I was drawn to the DHA position as it is a natural and promising extension to my interests and skillset.

I am also the owner of a very annoying cat and a very friendly dog as shown below.

I am attracted to DHA position because the prospect of marrying technical skills with my passion for the humanities really excites me. The chance to contribute to the entire lifecycle of a digital humanities project promises a lot of fulfillment for me personally. The learning objectives and this enlightening training process furthered my commitment to the role. I am eager to contribute to and learn from this vibrant community of scholars, educators, and students.

From the training, I learned many insightful theories and frameworks, as well as useful tools that will strengthen my abilities as a DHA and beyond. One of which is Linkedin Learning: not only will it enable me to learn a wide varieties of skills, it can qualify and arm my portfolio with certifications.

I am beyond excited to start my journey as a DHA, and thrilled to be surrounded by this group of encouraging and resourceful peers! 🙂

Hi all, I’m Will Shrestha! I’m from Saint Paul, Minnesota. I’m a senior Computer Science major and Digital Arts and Humanities minor. I worked as a TA for Hacking the Humanities fall and winter terms of the 2023-2024 academic year. Spring 2024 was my first term working as a Digital Humanities Associate after I heard about the job from Austin Mason, the director of the Digital Arts and Humanities department. I got a lot of experience working with a team of faculty and students in a professional setting and learned more about the intersections between computer science and the humanities. This year, I’m hoping to become proficient in at least one new software/tool that will help me in my projects. I’m also hoping to be able to help students learn more about the Digital Arts and Humanities minor as its Student Departmental Advisor.

Some other academic interests I have are music and psychology. I take saxophone lessons here at Carleton and occasionally arrange sheet music for piano on the music composition software, MuseScore. Recently, I’ve been learning more about social psychology in my free time. I’m currently reading Nudge by Richard H. Thaler which is a really interesting book about how choice architecture alters people’s behavior in predictable ways.

My main extracurricular at Carleton is being a member of the Karls, our club level men’s ultimate frisbee team. I play as a D-line handler. I am also member of MOSAIC (Mosaic of South Asian Interests at Carleton), Mixed Club, and Club Tennis.

Some hobbies of mine outside of Carleton are spending time with my pets and playing video games with my friends. I have two dogs and two cats (one cat, Scoop, is living on campus with me as an ESA). Two of my current favorite video games are World of Warcraft and Deadlock. Two of my all-time favorites are Stardew Valley and Minecraft.

Here’s a picture of Scoop in my dorm during junior year!

Author: Noah Lee

Hello! My name is Noah and I am from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am a first-year student interested in Computer Science and Statistics as a major – pursuing a career in software engineering or data science. Aside from computers, I am also interested in History – European history in particular – and I’m also on the swim team here. This will be my first year working in Digital Humanities and I am really excited to work on projects and get to know everyone here. I like making things with computers and solving problems so I hope this position will expand on what I’ve learned in the classroom and improve my skills in the workplace.

I’m interested in data analysis and modeling. With my limited work in stats so far, it has been really interesting to show data in interesting ways and find interesting relationships that people would otherwise overlook. Aside from that, I hope to be able to understand Omeka and WordPress more and be able to make, and help other people, make awesome things.

Aside from that, I like pets and beaches, and I can’t wait to experience my first Minnesota winter. I am also a lifeguard who works at West Gym on Mondays and Tuesdays at 11am so come to West Gym at those hours! Malaysia’s really awesome so if you have any questions about there or really any other thing about Asia or cats feel free to ask me! I have 3 cats – Hiroshi, Leo, and Diana and my girlfriend has like 9 cats so I know quite a lot about them.

Cat named Putih

Author: Tonushree Chowdhury

Hello! My name is Tonushree and I’m a senior from Mumbai, India. I am majoring in Cognitive Science with a Digital Arts and Humanities minor. When I’m not studying/working, I love creating art, exploring various nooks and crannies of campus and Northfield with my friends, and getting coffee with someone different every week to keep me on my toes. I also enjoy acting in Carleton productions. Apart from being a Digital Humanities Associate, I am also a Costume Shop Assistant at the Theater and Dance department and an Office Assistant for the Psych and Cog-Sci department!

I thrive in settings of interdisciplinarity, where a project, theory, or concept needs to be understood from several different lenses, be it philosophical, sociological, economical, linguistic, or digital to name a few. I’m excited by the fact that being a DHA gives me the opportunity to simultaneously dabble in multiple humanities classes and work on or observe the digitization of their projects. I would love to further my interests in art, storytelling and creative visualization by learning how to turn them into digital projects during my time as a DHA!

Author: Henry Burkhardt

Hello! I’m Henry, a sophomore from Minneapolis, MN. Here at Carleton, I’m interested in computer science, cognitive science and economics/public policy. This is my first year as part of the DHA team, and I’m excited to start getting involved in some Digital Humanities projects. While I love the theoretical/technical side of computer science, using these techniques as tools to build interesting projects has always been more rewarding for me than just theory alone. I’m hoping in my role as a DHA, I will have the opportunity to apply my formal knowledge and experience in web design and app building to projects across Carleton’s humanities disciplines.

I’m interested in the process of distilling large amounts of information into digestible analysis. This year, I’m hoping to learn more about how to do this well with digital tools. I’m also interested in learning more about visual storytelling with maps and other interactive web-based experiences.

Outside of school, I love playing music and spending time outside. On campus, I’m a board member for KRLX (our student-run radio station), a software developer on DataSquad, I live in Carleton’s Outdoors House (Wade house), and I can often be found in the climbing gym, exploring the Arb (by ski or foot), or plotting overly complex pranks on my friends.

Hello!

My name is Cynthia Leng and I am a junior Statistics major from Beijing, China. This is my first year working as a Digital Humanities Associate (DHA), and I am really excited about the interesting projects I will be working on.

I got interested in digital humanities when I started working with the Carleton Archives. My role in the Carleton in China project introduced me to digital tools and content management systems, and I am eager to learn more about them as a DHA.

In my free time, I sing with the Carleton Choir and a Chinese a cappella group. I also enjoy traveling, watching movies, and playing badminton with my friends.

Thanks for reading about me!