Join us for a panel discussion questioning what exactly is DH? This conversation will bring together digital practitioners to explore how digital methods and tools are transforming the ways we research, interpret, and share knowledge. Panelists will reflect on their own work in digital humanities, discuss opportunities and challenges in the field, and engage with questions about what it means to “do DH” today—whether through text analysis, digital archives, data visualization, public scholarship, or critical making.
"What is DH?" Panelists:
Dr. Ahmad Kamal
Dr Ahmad Kamal is a senior lecturer in LIS in The Department of Cultural Sciences at Linnaeus University and also serves as the programme coordinator for the Digital Humanities Master's Programme (also at Linnaeus). He received his PhD from Western in LIS <https://lnu.se/en/staff/ahmad.kamal/>. We will be fresh from our presentation at DHNB 2026 (Digital Humanities in the Nordic and Baltic Countries), which is a multimodal analysis of the teaching of digital methods to humanists, with a particular emphasis on spatial analysis as a case study.
Dr. Yadira Lizama-Mué
Yadira is a Computer Science Engineer (ECA Certified), a Postdoctoral Associate at the Cultureplex Lab and an Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities at Western University. Her research explores the intersection of computational methods, digital peacebuilding, and the humanities. She is interested in how Agentic AI can empower academics and students to automate research workflows while integrating AI-driven technologies and human-centred research practices.
Dr. William Turkel
William J. Turkel is Professor of History at the University of Western Ontario and internationally recognized for his innovative work in digital history. He uses machine learning, text mining, and computational techniques in his study of the histories of science, technology and environment, drawing on many decades of programming experience. He is the author of Spark from the Deep (Johns Hopkins, 2013), The Archive of Place (UBC, 2007) and the open access textbook Digital Research Methods with Mathematica (2nd rev ed 2020). His current monograph Exploring Global 21st Century History with Generative AI is under review at McGill-Queens University Press. Dr. Turkel is a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada (2018-26) and is a Generative AI Fellow at Western University’s Center for Teaching and Learning (2025-27).
Gavin Patrick
Patrick Gavin is an Associate Librarian at Huron University, where he leads research help and information literacy services. With a background spanning anthropology, political science, medieval studies, and critical information studies, his work bridges diverse disciplines to emphasize the political, ethical, and pedagogical dimensions of information. Patrick’s professional interests include digital humanities, spatial analysis, artificial intelligence in academia, and the evolving role of libraries in supporting independent undergraduate research experiences (UREs). He has presented widely across North America and Europe, developed open educational resources on GIS for the humanities, and contributed to multiple digital humanities projects. Ultimately, his work explores how libraries can function as connective infrastructure: bridging gaps between students and faculty, methods and meaning, and research and public life.
Bobby Glushko
Bobby Glushko is an academic administrator with extensive experience in administration and research support. After eleven years in library administration, Bobby’s work has returned with a focus on mis, dis, and Malin formation from a knowledge justice lens In particular, he is concerned with how power relationships shape access to information. Alongside this work, he engages deeply with storytelling, narrative, and archetypes as tools for sense-making, teaching and cultural analysis. Bobby teaches, writes, and speaks on AI, pedagogy, and institutional culture, bringing a critical, pragmatic perspective that blends ethics, narrative, and lived experience to examine how meaning is constructed and mobilized in academic spaces.
Dr. Alex Mayhew
Alex Mayhew is an adjunct lecturer at the Faculty of Information & Media Studies at Western University. Alex Mayhew is currently developing a new information paradigm is called Phylomemetics. This paradigm draws inspiration from biological phylogenetics, the literature concept of tropes, and the cultural concept of memes. A Phylomemetics-enhanced Library Catalogue would allow users to create links between the catalogue records, adding meaningful connections, integrating user participation into library catalogues. This paradigm draws inspiration from biological phylogenetics, the literature concept of tropes, and the cultural concept of memes.