About StudioDH
StudioDH, led by Dr. Amanda Montague, is a creative collaboratory where graduate students in the Digital Humanities Specialization work with community partners on digital projects that promote inclusive and equitable city building.
Our Values
- Reciprocity: Working together for mutual benefit. Ensuring all partners get something valuable from the experience. What Does it Look Like?: Alignment with community-identified needs.
- Shared Authority: Valuing community knowledge and expertise. Building with rather than for. What Does it Look Like?: Sharing power depending on the expertise that is needed at any given phase.
- Collaborative Decision Making: Taking joint ownership of key decisions. What Does it Look Like?: Slow scoping. Involving the partner at every stage of the decision-making process.
- Relationship Building: Understanding relationships are a process that happens over time and through frequent interaction. What Does it Look Like?: Developing trust between partners, students, and the university.
- Ongoing Dialogue: Continuous communication throughout the project as plans, methods, and outcomes evolve. What Does it Look Like?: Providing opportunities for collaborative reflection.
Our Approach
We combine community-engaged research with a range of digital humanities methods—including digital mapping, collaborative prototyping, creative making, playful experimentation, and data-driven storytelling—to explore community issues in hands-on, participatory ways.
Community-Engaged Research
Community Engaged Research (sometimes called Participatory Action Research or PAR) is a way of learning with people, not about them. It brings together community members and researchers to explore issues that matter to the community and it is rooted in co-creation, or the idea that everyone’s experience and knowledge count. Instead of research being something “done to” people, it becomes something we do together to spark change.
Why Story-Based Methods Matter
Storytelling helps us make sense of our lives and communities. It captures what statistics alone cannot—how people experience their daily lives, what matters to them, and what gives them hope or presents challenges. In participatory projects, stories give voice to those who are often unheard or underrepresented, allowing them to share their perspectives in their own words. Digital humanities tools and methods can enhance these stories through multimedia or interactive formats. Listening to each other’s stories builds empathy and understanding, forming the foundation for civic engagement and social change, and making research insights more accessible to city planners, policymakers, and neighbours.
Building Equitable and Inclusive Cities Through DH Approaches and PAR Methods
Story-based methods reveal everyday barriers and opportunities that quantitative data alone might miss. Insights from participatory action research can shape better urban design and programs as they reflect lived experience, not just expert opinion. Ultimately, these methods strengthen community bonds, build mutual respect, and foster a sense of shared ownership over local futures.