Director
Dr. Aaron Mauro is Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities and English at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. He is the director of the Penn State Digital Humanities Lab and teaches on topics relating to digital culture, computational text analysis, and scholarly communication. His articles on U.S. literature and culture have appeared in Modern Fiction Studies, Mosaic, and Symploke among others. He has also published on issues relating to digital humanities in both Digital Studies and Digital Humanities Quarterly.
Developers
Sydney Sample is a senior at Penn State Behrend, studying professional writing, mass media communication, and public relations. As a writer and editor, her work experience includes projects ranging from corporate newsletters to newspaper articles. Her words have been published throughout Erie and Crawford Counties and have also been recited on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. In the past, Sydney has had the privilege of working for the Sam and Irene Black School of Business, The Titusville Herald, The Behrend Beacon, and the Learning Resource Center at Penn State Behrend. She is currently working as a Web Developer and Social Media Strategist in the Penn State Digital Humanities Lab. She is actively developing the Greater Erie Arts Rental (GEAR) website and conducting a full service social media campaign.
Research Fellows
Brian Wilson is finishing his undergrad at Penn State Behrend while studying
Digital Media, Arts, and Technology. Brian received an Associates Degree in Multimedia Programming, Simulation & Gaming at Community College of Allegheny County where he cut his teeth in game development. Since then, he has been solo-developing his first commercial game titled Where the Bees Make Honey – which is slated to release on PC and consoles. Brian develops games as a form of communication as games allow people to experience situations from a new perspective.
Demetrius Allen Green is 2018 graduate of Penn State Behrend where he majored in Digital Media, Arts, and Technology. Demetrius loves music, and enjoys taking photos in his spare time. During his three years at Behrend, Demetrius was involved in a number of organizations including Association of Black Collegians, and Organization of African and Caribbean Students. He was also awarded a Undergraduate Student Summer Research grant where he took two historic landmarks, The Glen hill Farmhouse (Chancellor Ford’s office), and the burial ground, and made them accessible to people from all over by making 360 videos for each site where users would be able to navigate virtually, and learn about the landmarks.
Corrina Tucker is a photo and video enthusiast, programmer, as well as a graphic artist. While studying Digital Media, Arts and Technology at Penn State Behrend, she also works on The Behrend Beacon as a News Editor. She is the Vice President of The Diverse Organization of Photography and Videography Enthusiast which is a club on campus that allows students to use photo and video as a medium of expression. Corrina regularly posts her work on her Instagram account. Corrina’s digital artwork has been recently showcased at the Penn State Behrend Student Art Show and in the Erie Art Museum. She was a camera operator for the 2017 Ted X event held at Behrend. Corrina will be conducting research on the Stereoscopic Society of America funded by the Penn State Behrend Undergraduate Student Summer Research Fellowship and the 2017 Summer Erickson Discovery Grant. Working in conjunction with the Penn State Digital Humanities Lab and The Behrend History Project, her work will be part of a digital archive for all campuses to use. Her multimedia project will include code displaying the text of the documents along with scanned stereographs that she will convert to a moving images to show in action. Her mission for this research is to provide past and future members of Penn State the ability to view archived documents without the possibility of damage or being lost.
Isabelle Odell is a dual major in Digital Media, Arts, and Technology and English at Penn State Behrend. She is currently working as the PSU DH Lab’s Meta Data Manager and Curator on behalf of The Behrend History Project. In the summer of 2017, she completed an internship at the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park in which she will be educating children through the Branching Out Program and also learning how non-profit organizations function. She also has been awarded a Summer Research Fellowship for the summer of 2017 by Penn State Behrend in which she will be sharing the history of the Fuzz Detector, a device invented by the staff of the Hammermill Paper Company. Her goal for this research is to make the history of the Fuzz Detector more easily available to current and past members of Penn State and perhaps to share a piece of paper making history.
Mark Makowski is a senior DIGIT major at Penn State Behrend. He has a love for photography, playing music, and creative writing. Currently, he spends his time employed as a Consultation Agent at Best Buy in Erie, when not working on other projects. Mark is also the Public relations chair in the Interfraternity Council, as well as Scribe and Risk Management chairs for Triangle Fraternity, at Behrend. During the Spring 2017 semester, Mark was given the opportunity to intern at HAPPI 92.7 in Erie, assisting in projects that help betterment of the company. During this time, Mark has also taken the Radio Practicum class with Mr. Thomas Deau. During this class, Mark created a radio show that played classic rock albums that were initially produced on vinyl, called The Vinyl Version.
Scott Moon is a pure mathematics major at Penn State Behrend. He enjoys the campus for its rich opportunities for involvement and holds officer positions in the math club, the philosophy club, and the musician’s club. In addition, he is the founder and president of Bread Circus, a club which is dedicated to all mediums of creativity and encourages its members to try new modes of expression. In the fall of 2016, he researched mathematical possibilities for interpolating hyperoperations, but has since shifted his research interests to how computers can learn to understand human speech. Scott is developing an intelligent assistant with various open AI chat bot technologies.
Bridget Jenkins is an English and Professional Writing major, graduating in the spring of 2016 from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. She is currently the Managing Editor at her college newspaper, The Behrend Beacon. Her work with the paper has enabled her to travel to Los Angeles for the Associated Collegiate Press College Journalism Conference. In the summer of 2015, Bridget will be conducting research on the Masonic Temple of Erie, PA. Working in conjunction with the 12th Street Project, her work will be published in a collection that aims to record the history, culture, and contemporary voices of those living in the Erie area. Bridget’s multimedia project will include a visual and oral history of the Masonic Temple, which represents a prime example of the architecture of the early 20th century and the economic and cultural prosperity that made such structures possible. She argues that this building represents an enduring link between the early 1900s and today.
Eric Dye is a photographer, graphics designer, and journalist. While pursuing liberal studies at Penn State Behrend, he is also working at The Behrend Beacon as the Creative Director and Opinion Editor. He has spent over 8 years independently studying photography and is now using those skills for portraiture, photojournalism, and running a small business. Eric also regularly blogs about photography at etdphotography.com. He attended ACP National College Journalism Convention in both the Fall 2012 and Spring 2015 Eric will be conducting research in the summer of 2015 to review and analyze the history of the locomotive industry in Erie, PA with funding from the Undergraduate Student Summer Research Fellowship at Behrend. The research will be compiled and represented through a photo essay to be disseminated through the 12th Street Project and hosted by the Penn State Digital Humanities Lab at Behrend. This research seeks to provide a resource for the past and future members of the locomotive industry on behalf of the local community as well as inspire new industry enthusiasm.