Grinnell College Student Attends a Program at Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies

In the modern digital age, ideas on how to access and represent data and knowledge in classics are rapidly evolving. Last year, the Wilson Center helped Shannon Riley ’17, a classics major, attend the Information Fluency in Classics Program at the Center for Hellenic Studies, which is dedicated to introducing students to a variety of sources for classics, in Washington DC.

The Harvard University-affiliated center uses innovative, digital-based projects to redefine the humanism of Hellenic civilizations. Its program allows students to navigate and redefine Classics in the information age.

Lessons from the Program

Riley worked on the development and improvement of various digital humanities projects during the program. These projects inspired Riley to implement potential applications of tools for fluency at Grinnell. “The production of my own digital humanities project allowed me to explore the most efficient ways to consolidate my knowledge and resources to share them with others,” she writes.

Riley recognizes the salience and relevance of information technology in spreading content, especially in fields such as classics. She understands that “by improving digital humanities, classicists are able to promote widespread interest in a host of classics related topics.”

Much like professional classicists, Riley used her platform from her learning experiences and her inspiration for classics to make progress for the field. In this case, she helped to spread digital fluency in classics by offering access to dozens of resources and other digital humanities projects for current and future Grinnell students to use.

The innovative methods and approaches Riley learned during the program allowed her to embrace the challenges associated with leadership. Riley concludes, “Not only did I gain access to many new projects, but I also learned how to become involved in the projects and how I, as a student, could be a leader in innovation concerning the projects.”

Riley was sponsored by the Wilson Center, which seeks to inspire and prepare students as innovators and leaders through courses, professional development, and events that emphasize experiential learning.