Tag: introduction

Aya Yasumoto – DHA Introduction

Aya Yasumoto on

Hello, Digital Humanities at Carleton!

Who am I?

My name is Aya Yasumoto, and I am a freshman at Carleton College planning to major in Political Science.

Growing up, I never viewed myself as a “techy” person, and to be completely honest, I’m still not! Because I was always drawn to humanistic inquiry, younger me frankly never expected digital tools to play a major role in my studies. However, as technology becomes central to every field, I have realized how powerful it can be when intersected with the humanities and social sciences.

This past summer, I interned at a company where I used HyperAgent to build databases of government contract sites, design content qualification workflows, and generate social media content. I also used tools like Descript for video editing and Hubspot for email marketing. That experience opened my eyes to how much efficiency and insight digital tools can unlock, even for someone coming from a traditional humanities background.

I find the process of discovering insights through research tools deeply engaging and am eager to continue building my technical confidence. As a new Digital Humanities Associate, I want to master specialized methods for organizing and visualizing data, learn to select the right digital methodology for different research questions, and build the problem-solving skills needed to support others in navigating digital tools.

I also find Miriam Posner’s approach to digital humanities inspiring, especially her focus on tracing how raw sources are processed and turned into final presentations. Coming from someone wanting to work in political science, what excites me most is looking beneath the hood of digital tools to examine how data gets categorized and structured, and whose power or bias shapes those choices. Unpacking the actual technical process behind data systems reveals how much political influence is embedded in everyday tech, which makes me even more eager to build my technical skills as a DHA this year!

I’m excited to grow as a researcher this year and look forward to collaborating with everyone!

Martin Barroso – DHA Introduction

Martin Barroso on

Who am I?

A picture of Martin Barroso from a top down perspective overlooking Florence Italy

My name is Martin Barroso (he/him) and I am a sophomore prospective Computer Science major at Carleton. I am very interested in archaeology and spent last summer teaching myself Ancient Greek while working by the shores of Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin, my hometown.

Digital humanities is especially exciting to me as someone interested in both archaeology and computer science. The idea that I can combine these two interests in a field that actually exists is incredibly cool. This is my first term working as a DHA so I don’t really know what to expect but I’m excited to see what happens! I hope to focus on the CARCAS lab as I got involved with the physical side of the lab last term and would love to help bridge the gap between the physical and digital sides of the work.

A picture of Martin Barroso and Elinor Fischer standing over a pit filled with charred bones

Digital humanities is especially exciting to me as someone interested in both archaeology and computer science. The idea that I can combine these two interests in a field that actually exists is incredibly cool. This is my first term working as a DHA so I don’t really know what to expect but I’m excited to see what happens! I hope to focus on the CARCAS (Carleton Archaeological Research Collection of Animal Specimens) lab as I got involved with the physical side of the lab last term and would love to help bridge the gap between the physical and digital sides of the work.

Elinor Fischer and I doing CARCAS tasks

A wire frame and texture split view in bender of a angora goats rear.
Early work on full model reconstruction based on CARCAS scans

This term is going to be amazing and I can’t wait to start working!