Digital Bryn Mawr

Under President Cassidy’ leadership and beginning during her tenure as provost, Bryn Mawr has pioneered use of blended learning in the teaching of the liberal arts. Bringing together 40+ partner institutions through programs funded by a series of grants from major national foundations, President Cassidy led an initiative to investigate how to best combine online and active in-class approaches to support student learning in STEM, humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary courses. The College hosts an annual Blended Learning Conference that brings together an international community of faculty, educational technologists, librarians, and academic administrators to learn from one another to foster improved learning and student success. Bryn Mawr faulty, students, and staff also participate actively in the Liberal Arts Collaborative for Digital Innovation.

More recently, President Cassidy spearheaded an initiative at Bryn Mawr to capitalize on the rich possibilities for studying Data Science in a liberal arts context. Taking advantage of the interdisciplinary nature of Data Science, which requires both subject expertise and computational skills and approaches, faculty have created a Data Science minor that is available to students in any major, along with a wide range of co-curricular activities to support development of technical skills and understanding of ethical and social issues that have come with the development and use of data in contemporary life.

Bryn Mawr’s signature Digital Competencies Program provides a map for students seeking curricular and co-curricular opportunities to gain experience with an array of digital tools and methodologies. The model is woven through course assignments, campus jobs, internships, and research projects, and supports students in reflecting on and presenting how these skills support their post-graduation career and graduate study pathways.

Digital scholarship at Bryn Mawr encompasses the use of a wide range of digital methods and tools, from GIS to data visualization to network analysis and more. The digital scholarship program serves as a hub for faculty, students, and staff within and across disciplines to learn, collaborate, and make informed choices about interacting, creating, and critiquing digital technologies.