DigitalHistoryGuineaPig was born out of a simple idea: Why not bring students’ (claimed) digital competence into the classroom and use it as “natural habitat” for learning about ancient Christianity?
The idea, and with it also DigitalHistoryGuineaPig, was realized as a digital playground for the research master students at the Faculty of Theology, KU Leuven, in the research master class “Ancient Christianity” in early 2023.
The major aim was of course to learn about ancient Christianity. As “collateral damage” it also supposed to strengthen (or in many cases to begin building) students’ digital competences. It provides a platform where students can
- explore various digital research tools and databases,
- learn about their benefits but also gain important insights to
their limitations and shortcomings, - improve digital competences,
- increase digital literacty,
- practice cooperative work,
- practice peer-evaluation,
- generate knowledge,
- use knowledge for exam preparations,
- share knowledge with the public
in a safe and collaborative environment.
Thus, DigitalHistoryGuineaPig was born. Over the years, as (digital) animals tend to do, it grew. Now, it is an amalgam of digital and public history based on open science principles.
Enjoy the discovery. It was created for you.