Australia gets first digital humanities professor

Social media historian, biographer, editor and musician Paul Arthur has been appointed Australia’s first professor in Digital Humanities at the University of Western Sydney.

Arthur will take up the position at the university’s School of Humanities and Communication Arts, at it’s Parramatta campus, where he will lead a research group integrating digital media and research.  

Announcing the appointment, the university’s dean of humanities, Peter Hutchings said digital technologies were becoming increasingly important in preserving “fragile cultural heritage’’ and Arthur was an influential figure in the development of digital humanities in Australia.