DHSI 2024 at the University of Victoria, British Columbia
- Post On06/25/2024
- ByShankar Paudel
Participating in the DHSI 2024 was a rewarding experience. It was exciting to take part in a Dr. Richard Snyder-led course on digital
storytelling and learn how to use Twine for that purpose. Despite the fact that it required coding to a certain level, Dr. Snyder guided the process in a simple way. In Twine, I am sure that I will be able to create at least a simple story, which is something that is significant at this point. I have no idea if I will be able to make it to Montreal next year, but I am convinced that DHSI is an excellent platform to discover, learn, and interact with others. Thanks to everyone—the organizing team, the instructor, peers, instructors, and participants from other sessions—for helping out in the whole process.
Exploring British Columbia was another exciting experience that I had in addition to learning at DHSI. The beauty of the area astounds me, starting with the University of Victoria and continuing to Finnerty Gardens, Mystic Vale, and other parks, Victoria Harbor, Downtown Victoria, Beaches, Royal Roads University, Hatley Castle, Esquimalt Lagoon, and a plethora of other stunning locations. I have a desire to return to this location with my camera again and again.
I am grateful to the Department of English at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) for awarding the Hunter-Strauss Travel Grant that covered most of my travel expenses to Victoria. I appreciate the support of my mentor, Dr. Lucia Dura, the associate dean and the associate professor of rhetoric and writing studies at UTEP, for continuously encouraging me in all that I do. Thanks to my wife and daughter for allowing me to travel without them.
Shankar Paudel
यत् भावो – तत् भवति।
My name is Shankar. I am a PhD student in Rhetoric and Writing Studies (RWS) at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). I am also an assistant director in the rhetoric and writing studies program. At UTEP, apart from being a doctoral student, I am working as an instructor of technical writing (RWS-3359) and first-year composition (RWS 1301). I worked as an assistant director at the University Writing Center for three semesters (2022 Spring, 2023 Fall, and 2024 Spring). Prior to that, I was a graduate consultant at the University Writing Center (UWC) for a year and coordinated the Workshop Committee during that time. In the summer of 2022, I worked with the School of Nursing at UTEP as a PhD Research Associate. My research and teaching interests are more related to Indigenous environmental justice, environmental humanities, environmental historiography, rhetoric and composition, digital humanities, multimodal composition, and technical communication. My dissertation is focused on Indigenous Environmental Justice in the field of technical communication. I am the president of two student organizations at UTEP, Frontera Retorica (a student chapter of the Rhetoric Society of America at UTEP) and Nepali Students Association at UTEP (NSA-UTEP). Internationally, I am associated with the South Asian Foundation for Academic Research (SAFAR—https://www.safarsouthasia.org/2022/02/08/shankarpaudel/) as an academic Counsellor and the Center for Advanced Studies in South Asia (CASSA) as a digital consultant and also involved in various projects.