Who We Are

Dr. Amicucci researches college student and faculty digital video creation with a focus on inclusive practices. She also studies writing in digital spaces, particularly social media. Dr. Amicucci’s recent projects have explored how hashtags create identification among digital posters and how video explorations allow students to develop awareness of multilingual individuals’ needs in public spaces. Currently, Dr. Amicucci is researching how writing faculty’s instructional videos in online courses implement Universal Design for Learning guidelines. In this study, faculty participants are engaged in training and reflection on creating instructional videos that promote student access and engagement. 

Dr. Atyabi’s work involves data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. His Neurocognition Laboratory is researching computational and cognitive neuroscience and developing assistive technology for children with autism, including developing social robotic platforms and gaming platforms for measuring executive functioning skills.

Dr. Church’s work focuses on Belize, Central America and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. In both regions she focuses on landscape archaeology, decolonization of anthropology and of borderland histories, archaeology of parenting and childhood, and colonial/post-colonial identities. In her teaching, she trains students using several kinds of technologies to gather and analyze information about past lives. 

Dr. Dao’s research focuses on advancing Geographic Information Science (GIS) methods to represent and analyze geographic information. Her work with 2D, 3D, and web-based maps supports digital humanities efforts by presenting data visually as an alternative or supplement to narrative text. Dr. Dao additionally utilizes DH methods such as geospatial text mining, pattern discovery, and social network analyses.

Dr. Feliu-Moggi is a lead archival researchers in projects such as the cataloging of documents from Noble Laureate Miguel Angel Asturias in Guatemala. He currently leads the Colorado hub for the Colorado National Security Agency (NSA) Languages Initiative. Dr. Feliu-Moggi also produces multimedia informational materials for education purposes. Along with co-organizing cultural exhibitions in museums and cultural institutions in Spain, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the U.S, Dr. Feliu-Moggi studies the religious traditions and cultural productions of Hispano and Indigenous groups in the Southern Colorado to Northern New Mexico region.

Dr. Gibbes’ research interests center on understanding humans and their interactions with the environment, particularly the social and ecological impacts of land use decisions in spaces where agriculture and conservation overlap.  

She uses geospatial technologies, remote sensing, and integrated mixed methodological approaches to develop understandings of people, place, and the environment. 

Dr. Harner’s archival work studies the formation of place identity, how actors work to construct that identity or brand, and how people form place connections. He utilizes Geographic Information Systems to illustrate urban change through time as a complement to other historical documents and narratives. He partnered in The Story of Us, a museum exhibit using geospatial tools to tell the story of Colorado Springs.

Paul Harvey researches, writes, and teaches in the field of American history from the 16th century to the present. He is the author/editor of thirteen books and numerous articles. Harvey is the creator and “blogmeister” of the nationally known professional scholarly blog Religion in American History, and is a contributor to the online journal Religion Dispatches. 

Dr. Larkin has conducted archaeological excavations, historic research, and museum exhibits on a variety of topics including the experiences of women, children, Native American populations, and marginalized patients with tuberculosis in Southern Colorado. Her recent research project with the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum and GES at UCCS researches the hidden histories of healthcare inequity in Colorado Springs with the ultimate goal of creating a digital humanities resource to research and interpret the history related to the city’s reputation as a healthcare mecca for TB patients.

Dr. Seth M. Porter is the Dean of the Kraemer Family Library & Lead of Online Education for Academic Affairs at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. His research interests include rural development and wine economics, education technology, decolonization of knowledge, digital scholarship, organizational performance, strategy and management, and project management

Michelle’s pedagogy is focused on First Year Rhetoric and Writing, where she helps new and returning undergraduates navigate rhetorical analysis, argumentation, research, and style. Her pedagogical and research interests include the intersection between generative AI and ethics, adoption of generative AI into productive writing practices, and preparing students for the changing landscape of writing practices in the “Cognitive Revolution.”

Rupp is an archivist with Kraemer Family Library who works to preserve and create access to unique materials. Her DH work includes making digital surrogates of original materials and the information they contain available as well as creating tools to access and use the contents of the materials.  She works with UCCS students in the research and creation of digital humanities projects while reducing handling of the original materials to prolong their survival.

Dr. Smith’s research looks at the complex processes of producing collective memory and developing strategies that enable communities to negotiate around and within oppressive political and economic systems. Her theoretical research includes the politics of cultural production and political uses of archaeology in the Andes; the production of racialized geographies in Ecuador; the politics of value and the concept of authenticity; and fluidity and the creation of fields of interactive practice as indigenous methodologies of decolonization. Dr. Smith is currently developing DH projects that ensure broader community access to and control over local histories and that better reflect the value of the liberal arts and sciences and their impact on quality of life.

Dr. Taparata is interested in the intersection of digital humanities and public history. His research and teaching interests revolve around migration, belonging, law, and empire in the 19th and 20th century United States. He advised several digital projects at the University of Minnesota’s contribution to the Humanities Action Lab’s States of Incarceration initiative.

Professor Winters uses technology in novel and diverse ways in her First-year Rhetoric and Writing classes. She also works alongside veterans as they express their ideas in writing, helping them to publish their work both in print and on different digital platforms

Dr. Yin’s research explores human dynamics in a hybrid context including cyber, relational and physical spaces. Her work with geospatial AI agents, network analysis and urban modeling aims to empower communities and improve urban resilience in the age of uncertainty. By leveraging advanced spatial analysis and visualization techniques, she extends DH research to a geographical context.

Personal website: https://www.gis-social.org/