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Eastern Grad Accepts Digital History Fellowship at George Mason University

by Bobbi Brown

Willimantic, CT (05/28/2019) — Manchester-native Dana Meyer '19, a recent graduate of the history program at Eastern Connecticut State University, accepted a digital history fellowship at the George Mason University Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM). This Ph.D.-track fellowship is given to two students per year and provides full tuition for five years along with a stipend.

The Digital History Fellowship at RRCHNM was established in 1994 and is the oldest digital history center in the country. It creates websites and open-source digital tools that maintain and showcase the past, advance history education and historical understanding, encourage participation in the practice of history and more.

Meyer's fellowship will focus on the American Revolution, as he works with Christopher Hamner, editor-in-chief of the "Papers of the War Department" - a project that transcribes documents that were destroyed in the U.S. War Office.

Meyer will also further work on his digital research about Connecticut Revolutionary War deserters, which he says was motivated by "the lack of secondary scholarship exploring the Continental soldiers' psychological response to the Revolutionary War." He hopes this research will benefit early-American digital scholarship and offer answers to an issue not often explored.

As an incoming Digital History Fellow in George Mason University's Ph.D. program, Meyer will work alongside professional researchers, developers, programmers and more. "The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University is by far the most reputable Digital Humanities graduate program in the world," said Meyer. "The Digital History Fellowship will allow me to continue the analysis I have been conducting at Eastern… on a much larger and collaborative platform."

Speaking to the undergraduate opportunities afforded to him, Meyer said, "Eastern's digital history lab provided the resources and support necessary to embark on a data-driven historical project centered around a quantifiable thesis that has never been answered before."

Meyer acknowledges his mentor, Professor Jamal Ostwald, for guiding him throughout his independent study. "Dr. Ostwald has offered his knowledge and support, and without his help I would never have been able to create such a provocative research project."

He concluded, "Eastern has far exceeded my expectations. The History Department is truly unparalleled."

Written by Bobbi Brown

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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving 5,200 students annually at its Willimantic campus and satellite locations. In addition to attracting students from 160 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 33 other states and 80 other countries. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 65 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal art foundation grounded in an array of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 30 public universities in the North Region by U.S. News and World Report in its 2019 Best College ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review nine years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.

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