Jennifer Tuttle presents digital portfolio work at Society for the Study of American Women Writers conference

Photo of woman smiling (Jennifer Tuttle)
Jennifer Tuttle, Ph.D., Dorothy M. Healy Professor of Literature and Health at UNE

On Nov. 5, Jennifer Tuttle, Ph.D., Dorothy M. Healy Professor of Literature and Health in the University of New England School of Arts and Humanities and 2021-2022 Ludcke Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences presented a paper at a hybrid conference for the Society for the Study of American Women Writers.

Tuttle's paper, "Undergraduate Editors in the Digital Domain: Reinventing the Research Paper," reported on how she used ePortfolio in her Topics in Literature and Health course, "Madness in Literature," in the fall 2020 semester. In the midst of the pandemic, with the class divided into cohorts and using a blend of in-person and online interaction, Tuttle's students produced dynamic digital humanities projects as well as strengthened their mastery of ePortfolio for more general use.

Students used WordPress to create digital editions of primary texts, which they framed, introduced, and annotated using a variety of digital tools. The assignment, which functioned as a deconstructed research paper, turned students from consumers to producers of editions, allowing them to both engage with an authentic audience and become more discerning readers of how texts are packaged for their own consumption. 

showcase of student projects can be found on Tuttle's ePortfolio site.

The assignment was Tuttle's project in the UNE 2020 Faculty Learning Community (FLC) on “High Impact E-Portfolios for 21st Century Learning” and was thus made possible only through the generous support of Jen Gennaco, M.Ed., facilitator of the FLC and DigiSpace coordinator, and fellow participants in the FLC; Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) Director Marc Ebenfield, Ph.D., and CETL Coordinator Karl Carrigan; and Michael Cripps, Ph.D., academic director of the School of Arts and Humanities.