As the first art history institute created in the digital age, the O'Donnell Institute strives to explore scholarly activity at the intersection of digital technology and the humanities.

Anne Balsamo leads digital humanities efforts at the O'Donnell Institute, collaborating on various project.

Digital Cultural Heritage

The application of digital technologies to preserve cultural heritage is becoming a rapidly advancing field.

The O'Donnell Institute's Director, Michael Thomas, leads an initiative to create a navigable, three-dimensional digital model of Villa A at Oplontis, fully documenting its setting, architecture, and decor of The Oplontis Project.

Additionally, Balsamo offers a seminar in Digital Cultural Heritage, teaching advanced research in issues, methods, or practices relevant to arts, technology, and emerging communication.

Cultural Informatics

Cultural Informatics is an interdisciplinary field utilizing information technology in preserving, transmitting, and shaping human culture and heritage.

Public Humanities

Developed by Anne Balsamo and Dale MacDonald, with colleagues conducted at Xerox PARC, The AIDS Quilt Touch (AQT) Virtual Quilt Browser is one of several interactive experiences based on the AIDS Memorial Quilt. In free-browse mode, viewers can explore the Quilt by zooming and panning across the 25-gigapixel image. In Narrative Threads mode, they can follow pathways that present stories about individual panels and the cultural significance of the Quilt. Other AQT applications include a story-making platform, a digital guest book, and interactive timelines.

Balsamo and MacDonald continue work on the project in the Research Lab that they co-direct.

Media Archeology

Media archaeology is a field that attempts to understand new and emerging media through close examination of the past with critical scrutiny of narratives of popular commercial media such as film and television.

Anne Balsamo directs the Media Archeology Lab at UT Dallas. Murilo Pavia Homsi runs a Media Archeology Club.

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Anne Balsamo, Arts and Humanities Distinguished University Chair, Professor, The University of Texas at Dallas