Introducing CHI Fellow Ryan Carty

I am a second year graduate student in the history department where I focus on African history. My specific focus is on the White Volta and Oti River regions of West Africa from the 1890s to 1960s. I am interested in skilled work in that region and its influence on cultural, social, and political changes.

Before graduate school, I worked in industry as a project manager and data analyst where I learned digital tools and their applications in the world of international development. This occurred in a fast-paced work environment where digital systems were quickly built and deployed for short-term funding cycles. I learned Nvivo, R, Stata, and other digital tools as well as their limitations for analyzing data, especially data that didn’t fit into the original schemas.

Now in the world of African history, I am trying to transfer my knowledge of digital tools to historical scholarship. I am interested in the construction of historical databases and their use in understanding the past. I am also interested in digital tools used for oral histories and mapping.

As a CHI graduate fellow, I plan to explore these interests and learn how digital tools can speak to one another. I also plan to learn more about digital humanities scholarship and avenues through which to disseminate research.