The Center for Humanities and Digital Research was founded in 2007 to initiate and support advanced research and teaching, and to promote interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities and arts.

Dr. Bruce Janz, Director, and Dr. Mark Kamrath, Associate Director, lead CHDR in its efforts to provide space, resources, expertise, programming, and digital research support for individuals and scholars on collaborative projects that address central issues of our time and place, connect history to the present, and explore new ways of understanding and educating about the diversity of cultures and ideas in our society and around the globe. The CHDR supports visiting speakers, colloquia, exhibition funding, conference support, and other faculty research initiatives. It partners with the Faculty MultiMedia Center in its efforts to undertake interdisciplinary, digital humanities research. Some of CHDR’s current projects include:

ChinaVine - an international collaboration between UCF, the University of Oregon, and the Shandong University of Art and Design in Jinan, China. ChinaVine seeks to educate English-speaking audiences about the culture of China through traditional folk art. 5 UCF undergraduates presented their work in this expansive project at the 2008 Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE).

Come Back to the Fair - Also presented at the 2008 SURE and selected as the 2nd place winner in arts and humanities, "Come Back to the Fair" brings us into the past through an immersive 3D virtual environment. The project is creating a comprehensive virtual reconstruction of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, complete with digitized photographs, films, documents, and personal memories.

Zora Neale Hurston Digital Archive - An academic website that serves as a repository of biographical, critical, and contextual materials related to Hurston’s life and work. Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was a star of the Harlem Renaissance and called "one of the greatest writers of our time" by Toni Morrison. Hurston was a distinguished author and anthropologist who celebrated and preserved her African–American culture in both her scientific research and in her fiction. She wrote four acclaimed novels, including her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, two books on anthropology and folklore, one memoir, and numerous short stories, essays, and works of journalism. Hurston grew in up nearby Eatonville, Florida, providing UCF researchers with unique access to people who knew her and to historical documents related to her work in Florida. The project is supported by board members from UCF, the University of Florida, Rutgers University, and the University of Southern California.

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