As Digital Humanities becomes increasingly recognised as a significant discipline and embedded in university curricula internationally, it is instructive to recognise that most scholarship relevant to the discipline is still predominantly from Anglo-American countries – this collaboration, between Finnish and Indian institutions, demonstrates how cultural, intellectual and linguistic contexts can and even necessarily must fruitfully contribute to shape the future direction of the discipline.

The disciplinary positioning of Digital Humanities is informed by practices of making, creativity and finding alternative lenses through which to envision issues in Humanities scholarship. In this, all cooperating institutions share a common vision with UH, who is deeply committed to these values, and has massively strengthened its Digital Humanities activities recently. Thus, this project nurtures growth and exchange of ideas and experiences that will be beneficial to all cooperating institutions. The project explicitly responds to an existing educational need with wider implications for cooperation between the countries.

Combining the forces in this international activity brings about synergies and benefits a number of parties. One particular area that will benefit considerably is that of video games, which all three institutions have interested and experienced faculty in – especially with regards to how to use games in the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) space, or drawing on resources and artefacts from these institutions to enable outreach. In keeping with the aim of the endeavour to create alternative paradigms for Digital Heritage research, the members of the project can draw on indigenous histories, traditions and modes of storytelling to explore what it means to create culturally specific games as well as to translate these culturally specific concepts into the digital realm.

The project’s first conference event was held recently, on 29 May 2017, at HY. It was titled Global Digital Humanities.

The second conference event will take place in January 2018 at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore. It will be titled Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage.